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The Story of Manhattan
The
Story of Manhattan
By Charles Hemstreet
New York
Charles Scribner s Sons
1901
599G94_
10> . I - £5"
Copyright, igoi, by
Charles Scribner' ' s Sons
Published October, igoi
Trow Directory
Printing and Bookbinding Company
New York
Preface
HERE the history of New York City is
told as a story y in few words. 'The
effort has been to make it accurate and
interesting. The illustrations are largely from
old prints and wood engravings. Few dates are
used. Instead, a Table of Events has been added
which can readily be referred to. The Index
to Chapters also gives the years in which the
story of each chapter occurs.
Index to Chapters
c
Page
HAPTER I. The Adventures of Henry
Hudson. From 1609 to 161 2 . . . 1
CHAPTER II. The First Traders on the
Island. From 161 2 to 1625 .... 10
CHAPTER III. Peter Minuit, First of the
Dutch Governors. From 1626 to 1633 18
CHAPTER IV. Walter Van Twiller, Sec-
ond of the Dutch Governors. From
1633 to 1637 25
CHAPTER V. William Kieft and the War
with the Indians. From 1637 to 1647 • 33
CHAPTER VI. Peter Stuyvesant, the Last
of the Dutch Governors. From 1647
to 1664 44
CHAPTER VII. New York Under the
English and the Dutch. From 1664 to
^74 55
CHAPTER VIII. Something About the
Bolting Act. From 1674 to 1688 . . 61
vii
Index to Chapters
Page
CHAPTER IX. The Stirring Times of
Jacob Leisler. From 1688 to 1691 . 66
CHAPTER X. The Sad End of Jacob
Leisler. The Year 1691 71
CHAPTER XI. Governor Fletcher and
the Privateers. From 1692 to 1696 . 77
CHAPTER XII. Containing the True
Life of Captain Kidd. From 1696 to
1702 82
CHAPTER XIII. Lord Cornbury makes
Himself very Unpopular. From 1702
to 1708 91
CHAPTER XIV. Lord Lovelace and
Robert Hunter. From 1708 to 1720 95
CHAPTER XV. Governor Burnet and the
French Traders. From 1720 to 1732 101
CHAPTER XVI. The Trial of Zenger,
the Printer. From 1732 to 1736 . . 106
CHAPTER XVII. Concerning the Negro
Plot. From 1736 to 1743 . . . . in
viii
Index to Chapters
Page
CHAPTER XVIII. The Tragic Death of
Sir Danvers Osborne. From 1743 to
1753 Il6
CHAPTER XIX. The Beginning of Dis-
content. From 1753 to 1763 . . . 121
CHAPTER XX. The Story of the Stamp
Act. From 1763 to 1765 . . . . 127
CHAPTER XXI. The Beginning of
Revolution. From 1765 to 1770 . . 133
CHAPTER XXII. Fighting the Tax on
Tea. From 1770 to 1774 .... 137
CHAPTER XXIII. The Sons of Liberty
at Turtle Bay. From 1774 to 1775 . 143
CHAPTER XXIV. The War of the
Revolution. In the Year 1775 . . . 147
CHAPTER XXV. A Battle on Long
Island. The Year 1776 151
CHAPTER XXVI. The British Occupy
New York. The Year 1776 {Con-
tinued) 156
ix
Index to Chapters
Page
CHAPTER XXVII. The Battle of Har-
lem Heights. The Year 1776 (Con-
tinued) 164
CHAPTER XXVIII. The British Fail
to Sweep Everything Before Them.
From 1776 to 1777 167
CHAPTER XXIX. New York a Prison
House. From 1777 to 1783 . . . 173
CHAPTER XXX. After the War. From
1783 to 1788 179
CHAPTER XXXI. The First President
of the United States. The Year 1788 186
CHAPTER XXXII. The Welcome to
George Washington. The Year 1789 190
CHAPTER XXXIII. Concerning the
Tammany Society and Burr's Bank.
From 1789 to 1800 197
CHAPTER XXXIV. More about Hamil-
ton and Burr. From 1801 to 1804 . 204
CHAPTER XXXV. Robert Fulton Builds
a Steam-Boat. From 1805 to 1807 . 208
x
Index to Chapters
Page
CHAPTER XXXVI. The City Plan.
From 1807 to 1 8 14 212
CHAPTER XXXVII. The Story of the
Erie Canal. From 1814 to 1825 . . 216
CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Building of .
the Croton Aqueduct. From 1825 to
1845 223
CHAPTER XXXIX. Professor Morse and
the Telegraph. From 1845 to 1878 . 230
CHAPTER XL. The Greater New York.
To the Present Time 235
TABLE OF EVENTS 237
INDEX 243
XI
List of Illustrations
Page
New Amsterdam, 1650 — New York, Kast
Side, 1746 1
The Half Moon in the Highlands of the
Hudson 5
Earliest Picture of Manhattan 9
Indians Trading for Furs 11
Hall of the States-General of Holland . . 15
Seal of New Netherland 17
The Building of the Palisades 20
Old House in New York, Built 1668 . . 24
Van Twiller's Defiance 27
Landing of Dutch Colony on Staten Island. 29
Governor's Island and the Battery in 1850 . 30
Dutch Costumes 32
The Bowling Green in 1840 35
Selling Arms to the Indians 38
Smoking the Pipe of Peace 43
xiii
List of Illustrations
Page
The Old Stadt Huys of New Amsterdam . 47
Stuyvesant leaving Fort Amsterdam ... 51
Petrus Stuyvesant's Tombstone .... 54
Departure of Nicolls 56
The Dutch Ultimatum 59
Seal of New York 63
New York in 1700 70
Sloughter Signing Leisler's Death-warrant . 73
Bradford's Tombstone 78
The Reading of Fletcher's Commission. . 81
Arrest of Captain Kidd 85
New City Hall in Wall Street 88
Fort George in 1740 90
View in Broad Street about 1740. ... 94
The Slave-Market 98
Fraunces's Tavern 100
Dinner at Rip Van Dam's 107
The Negroes Sentenced 113
xiv
List of Illustrations
Page
Trinity Church, 1760 124
Coffee-House opposite Bowling Green, Head-
Quarters of the Sons of Liberty . . 129
Ferry-House on East River, 1746 . . . 140
East River Shore, 1750 . 145
Mrs. Murray's Dinner to British Officers . 159
Howe's Head-Quarters, Beekman House . 162
Map of Manhattan Island in 1776 . . . 165
View from the Bowling Green in the Revo-
lution 169
Old Sugar-House in Liberty Street, the
Prison-House of the Revolution . . 174
North Side of Wall Street East of William
Street 181
Celebration of the Adoption of the Consti-
tution ,188
View of Federal Hall and Part of Broad
Street, 1796 191
The John Street Theatre, 1781 . . . . 194
xv
List of Illustrations
Page
Reservoir of Manhattan Water-Works in
Chambers Street 202
The Collect Pond 204
The Grange, Kingsbridge Road, the Resi-
dence of Alexander Hamilton . . . 206
The Clermont, Fulton's First Steam-Boat . 210
Castle Garden 214
Landing of Lafayette at Castle Garden . . 217
View of Park Row, 1825 225
High Bridge, Croton Aqueduct .... 228
Crystal Palace 232
xvi
U\Side, 1746'
CHAPTER I
The Adventures of
Henry Hudson
^^^^^^^ ^on§ anc^ narrow Island of
T^|^ Manhattan was a wild and beau-
qSj) tiful spot in the year i6og. In
S^o this year a little ship sailed up
5^ the bay below the island, took
the river to the west, and went
on. In these days there were no tall houses with
white walls glistening in the sunlight, no church-
spires, no noisy hum of running trains, no smoke
to blot out the blue sky. None of these things.
But in their place were beautiful trees with spread-
ing branches, stretches of sand-hills, and green
patches of grass. In the branches of the trees
there were birds of varied colors, and wandering
through the tangled undergrowth were many wild
animals. The people of the island were men and
women whose skins were quite red ; strong and
[■]
The Story of Manhattan
healthy people who clothed themselves in the furs of
animals and made their houses of the trees and vines.
In this year of 1609, these people gathered on
the shore of their island and looked with wonder
at the boat, so different from any they had ever
seen, as it was swept before the wind up the river.
The ship was called the Half Moon, and it had
come all the way from Amsterdam, in the Dutch
Netherlands. The Netherlands was quite a small
country in the northern part of Europe, not nearly
as large as the State of New York, and was usu-
ally called Holland, as Holland was the most im-
portant of its several states. But the Dutch owned
other lands than these. They had islands in the
Indian Ocean that were rich in spices of every
sort, and the other European countries needed
these spices. These islands, being quite close to
India, were called the East Indies, and the com-
pany of Dutch merchants who did most of the
business with them was called the East India Com-
pany. They had many ships, and the Half Moon
was one of them.
The Adventures of Henry Hudson
It was a long way to the East India Islands from
Holland, for in these days there was no Suez
Canal to separate Asia and Africa, and the ships
had to go around Africa by way of the Cape of
Good Hope. Besides being a long distance, it was
a dangerous passage ; for although from its name
one might take the Cape of Good Hope to be a very
pleasant place, the winds blew there with great force,
and the waves rolled so high that they often dashed
the fragile ships to pieces.
So the merchants of Holland, and of other coun-
tries for that matter, were always thinking of a
shorter course to the East Indies. They knew
very little of North or South America, and be-
lieved that these countries were simply islands and
that it was quite possible that a passage lay through
them which would make a much nearer and a much
safer way to the East Indies than around the dread
Cape of Good Hope. So the East India Company
built the ship Half Moon and got an Englishman
named Henry Hudson to take charge of it, and
started him off to find the short way. Hudson was
[3]
The Story of Manhattan
chosen because he had already made two voyages
for an English company, trying to find that same
short passage, and was supposed to know ever so
much more about it than anyone else.
When the Half Moon sailed up the river, Hudson
was sure that he had found the passage to the Indies,
and he paid very little attention to the red-skinned
Indians on the island shore. But when the ship got
as far as where Albany is now, the water had be-
come shallow, and the river-banks were so near to-
gether that Hudson gave up in despair, and said
that, after all, he had not found the eagerly sought-
for passage to India, but only a river !
Then he turned the ship, sailed back past the isl-
and, and returned to Holland to tell of his discovery.
He told of the fur-bearing animals, and of what a
vast fortune could be made if their skins could only
be got to Holland, where furs were needed. He
told of the Indians ; and the river which flowed
past the island he spoke of as " The River of
the Mountains."
The directors of the Dutch East India Company
[4]
-5
3
■Si
V
-3
-Si
^
4
■^
e
The Adventures of Henry Hudson
were not particularly pleased with Hudson's report.
They were angry because the short cut to India had
not been found, and they thought very little of the
vast storehouse of furs which he had discovered.
Neither did the Company care a great deal about
Hudson, for they soon fell out with him, and he
went back to the English company and made another
voyage for them, still in search of the short passage
to India. But in this last voyage, he only succeeded
in finding a great stretch of water far to the north,
that can be seen on any map as Hudson's Bay.
His crew after a time grew angry when he wanted to
continue his search. There was a mutiny on the
ship, and Hudson and his son and seven of the sail-
ors who were his friends were put into a small boat,
set adrift in the bay to which he had given his name,
and no trace of them was ever seen again. Long,
long years after that time, another explorer found
the passage that Hudson had lost his life searching
for. It is The Northwest Passage, far up toward the
North Pole, in the region of perpetual cold and
night. So Hudson never knew that the passage he
[7]
The Story of Manhattan
had looked for was of no value, and we may be sure
he had never imagined that there would ever be a
great city on the island he had discovered.
The Dutch came to think a great deal of Hudson
after he was dead. The stream which he had called
" The River of the Mountains " they named Hud-
son's River. They even made believe that Hudson
was a Dutchman — although you will remember he
was an Englishman — and were in the habit of speak-
ing of him as " Hendrick " Hudson.
The Indians were scattered over America in great
numbers. The tribe on the island were called Man-
hattans, and from that tribe came the name of the
Island of Manhattan. All the Indians, no matter
which tribe they belonged to, looked very much
alike and acted very much the same. Their eyes
were dark, and their hair long, straight, and black.
When they were fighting, they daubed their skins
with colored muds — war-paint the white men called
it — and started out on the " war-path." They loved
to hunt and fish, as well as to fight, and they fought
and murdered as cruelly and with as little thought
PI
The Adventures of Henry Hudson
as they hunted the wild animals or hooked the fish.
They held talks which were called " councils," and
one Indian would speak for hours, while the others
listened in silence. And when they determined upon
any action, they carried it out, without a thought of
how many people were to be killed, or whether they
were to be killed themselves.
■f i^rt tu'evcvj ^4rnJl«rdmHy opdcMarifvttans . r^'S^T,<^0^£>'!-'^n^-«*£,'
Earliest Picture of Manhattan.
[9]
CHAPTER II
The First Traders
on the Island
FOR several years after the return of Hudson,
Dutch merchants sent their ships to the
Island of Manhattan, and each ship returned
to Holland laden with costly furs which the Indians
had traded for glass beads and strips of gay cloth.
The Indians cared a great deal more for glittering
glass and highly colored rags than they did for furs.
One trader above all others whose name should
be remembered, was Adrian Block. He came in
a ship called the Tiger. This ship was anchored
in the bay close by what is now called the Battery,
and directly in the course that the ferry-boats take
when they go to Staten Island.
On a cold night in November it took fire and
was burned to the water's edge. Block and those
who were with him would all have been burned to
death had they not been strong and hardy men
[IO]
The First Traders o?i the Island
who were able to swim ashore in the ice-cold water.
Even when they reached the shore they were not
safe, for there were no houses or places of shelter;
Indians Trading for Furs.
the winter was coming on, and the woods were filled
with wild beasts. But Block and his men very
soon built houses for themselves ; rude and clumsy
buildings to look at, but warm and comfortable
[»]
The Story of Manhattan
within. They were the first houses of white men
on the Island of Manhattan. If you wish to see
where they stood, take a walk down Broadway, and
just before vou reach the Bowling Green, on a
house which is numbered 41, you will find a tablet
of brass which tells that Block's houses stood on
that self-same spot.
As soon as the hard winter was over, Block and
his men began to build a new ship, and before
another winter had come they had one larger than
the Tiger. It was the first vessel to be built in
the new world, and was called the Restless.
That same year the Dutch merchants decided
that they were giving too many glass beads for the
furs, and that if all the merchants combined into
one company they might not have to give so many.
So they did combine, and called themselves the
United New Netherland Company. It was in this
way that the name New Netherland first appeared.
When the first ships of the new company reached
the island, a house was built for the use of the fur-
traders, just south of where the Bowling Green
[w]
The First Traders on the Island
Park is. This structure was called Fort Manhat-
tan. It was of wood, and did not take long to
build because the traders did not intend to live in it
a great while. They felt quite sure that all the furs
would be collected in a few years, and that then the
island would be abandoned. No one thought at
that time that the little wooden stockade was the
commencement of a great city.
But after a few years it was found that the new
country was a much richer place than had been sup-
posed. Shipload after shipload of otter and beaver
skins were sent across the ocean and still there were
otters and beavers without number. The fur-
traders were growing rich, and after a few years
there came a decided change, when a new company
was formed in Holland ; a great body of men this
time, who had a vast amount of money to build
ships and fit them out. This organization was the
West India Company, and was to battle with Spain
by land and by sea (for the Netherlands was at war
with Spain) and was to carry on trade with the
West Indies, just as the East India Comoany car-
[>3]
The Story of Manhattan
ried on trade with the East Indies. As the West
Indies included every country that could be reached
by sailing west from Holland, you will see that all
the Dutch land in America, which land was called
New Netherland, came under the control of this
new company.
The territory called New Netherland was the
country along the Atlantic Ocean which now makes
up the States of New Jersey, New York, and Con-
necticut. But its limits at this time were uncertain
as it extended inland as far as the Company might
care to send their colonists.
Within a few years, the seventy ships sailing
under the flag of the West India Company, fought
great battles with the Spaniards, and won almost
every one of them. There were branches of the
Company in seven cities of Holland, and the branch
in Amsterdam had charge of New Netherland. So
it will be only of the doings of this branch that we
shall read. Colonists were to be carried to New
Netherland from Holland ; farms were to be laid
out and cultivated ; cities were to be built, and the
[hi
The First Traders
071
the I
SLAND
West India Company was to have absolute control
over all, and was to rule all the people. To do
these things they had authority from the States-
Hall of the States-General of Holland.
General of Holland, which was the name given to
the men who made the laws for that country. The
Company was to make regular reports to the States-
The Story of Manhattan
General, and tell of the growth of the colony and
the progress of the people in it. But as the years
went on the Company was not as particular as it
should have been about what it told the States-
General.
It was not until the West India Company took
charge of New Netherland that it was decided to
make the settlement on the Island of Manhattan a
city. Up to this time it had been merely a trading
station. In order to build up a city, the Company
knew that it would be necessary to send people in
sufficient numbers so that no matter how many
were killed by the Indians the settlement would not
be wiped out. Many inducements were offered,
and men with their families soon began to flock to
New Netherland. With the ship that brought the
first families was Cornelius Jacobsen May, who was
to live on the Island of Manhattan and look after
affairs for the Company. Rude houses were set up
about the fort, and the first street came into exist-
ence. This is now called Pearl Street.
Cornelius Jacobsen May cared for the colony for
[,6]
The First Traders on the Island
less than a year, when his place was taken bv Will-
iam Verhulst. Before the year was out, Yerhulst
decided that the new country never would suit him,
and he sailed away to Holland. Then came in his
place, in the year 1626, Peter Minuit, under ap-
pointment as the first Dutch Governor of New
Netherland.
Seal of Nezv Netherland.
C'7]
CHAPTER III
Peter Minuit, First
of the Dutch Governors
PETER MINUIT was a large man, of middle
age, whose hair was turning gray, whose
eyes were black and dull, and whose man-
ners were quite coarse.
The West India Company gave to this Governor
absolute power over all the Dutch lands in America.
His power was equal to that of a king; much more
than some kings have had. To be sure, in matters
of extreme importance he was supposed to refer to
the Company in Holland. But Holland was far
away, farther away than it is in these days of fast
steamers and the telegraph, and the Company had
too many other matters to look after to give much
thought to New Netherland.
One of the first acts of Governor Minuit was to
buy the Island of Manhattan from the Indians,
giving them in exchange some beads, some brass
[18]
Peter Minuit
ornaments, some bits of glass and some strips of
colored cloth ; all of which seemed a rich treasure
to the Indians, but were in reality worth just
twenty-four dollars.
As soon as Minuit had bought the island, he
organized a government. In authority next to the
Governor was the koopman, who was secretary of
the province, and bookkeeper at the Company's
warehouse, and who worked very hard. Then
came the schout-fiscal, who worked still harder, be-
ing half sheriff, half attorney-general, and all cus-
toms officer. There was also a council of five men
who looked wise but had very little to say and did
not dare to disagree with the Governor.
Although in buying their land Governor Minuit
had made the Indians his friends, he took care to
be prepared in case they should change their minds
and become warlike. He had Kryn Frederick, the
Company's engineer, build a solid fort on the spot
where the fur-traders' stockade had stood. This
he called Fort Amsterdam. It was surrounded by
cedar palisades, and was large enough to shelter all
[19]
The Story of Manhattan
the people of the little colony in case of danger.
Inside this fort there was a house for the Governor,
and outside the walls was a warehouse for furs, and
i e„ £?$y _
The Building of the Palisades.
[ao]
Peter Minuit
a mill which was run by horse-power, with a large
room on the second floor to be used as a church.
When Minuit had become fairly settled in his
new colony, he divided the lower part of the island
into farms, which in those days were called " bou-
weries." A road which led through these farms
was named Bouwerie Lane, and the same road is to-
day known as The Bowery.
Minuit had been Governor four years, and there
were 200 persons on the island, when the Dutch
West India Company, deciding that the colony
was not increasing fast enough, made a plan for
giving large tracts of land to any man who would
go from Holland and take with him fifty persons
to make their homes in New Netherland. The
grants of land, which were really large farms,
stretched away in all directions over the territory of
New Netherland. But no grant was made on the
Island of Manhattan, as the Company reserved that
for itself. Each of these farms was called a manor.
The man who brought colonists from Holland was
called a patroon. He was the Lord of the Manor-
[21]
The Story of Manhattan
He had supreme authority over his colonists, who
cleared the land of the trees, planted seeds, gath-
ered the ripened grain, and raised cattle which they
gave to the Lord of the Manor as rent.
The little town of New Amsterdam was to con-
tinue as the seat of government, and the Lords of
the Manors were to act under the direction of the
Governor. The farms established by these patroons
were to belong to them and to their families after
them.
The one thing that the patroons were not per-
mitted to do was to collect the furs of animals, for
these were very valuable and the Company claimed
them all.
Before many years had passed there was much
trouble with these patroons, who did a great deal
to make themselves rich, and very little for New
Netherland. They traded in furs, notwithstanding
they were forbidden to do so, and did all manner
of things they should not have done.
Governor Minuit was himself accused of aiding
the patroons to make money at the expense of the
[aa]
Peter Minuit
West India Company, and of taking his share of
the profit ; and finally, the Company ordered him to
return to Holland. The ship in which he sailed
was wrecked on the coast of England, and Minuit
was detained and accused of unlawfully trading
in the territory of the King of England. This was
not the first time that the English had laid claim
to the Dutch lands in America. Charles I. was
king then, and he said that England owned New
Netherland because an English king, more than
a hundred years before Hudson's time, had sent
John Cabot and his son Sebastian in search of
new lands, and they had touched the American
shore.
But the Dutch called attention to the fact that it
had been held, time out of mind, that to own a
country one must not only discover it, but must
visit it continually, and even buy it from any persons
who should be settled there. Even if the Cabots
had discovered the land in America, the Dutch had
occupied it ever since Hudson's time and had paid
the Indians for it.
[»3]
The Story of Manhattan
Matters were patched up for the time, and
Minuit was permitted to return to Holland. But
he was no longer Governor of New Netherland, for
his place had been given to another man whose
name was Walter Van Twiller.
Old House in New York, Built 1668.
[H]
CHAPTER IV
Walter Van Twiller,
Second of the Dutch
Governors
NOW this Walter Van Twiller was a relative
of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, one of the
patroons. You will see why the West
India Company's choice of him for a Governor was
not by any means a wise choice. For he was soon
doing exactly what Minuit had done. The only
difference was that Governor Van Twiller favored
Van Rensselaer more than he did the other patroons.
Van Twiller was a stout, round-bodied man,
with a face much the shape of a full moon. He
was a sharp trader, having made two voyages to the
Hudson River in the interest of Van Rensselaer,
but he knew nothing of governing a colony.
The ship that brought the new Governor to the
Island of Manhattan, had also on board a hundred
[«s]
The Story of Manhattan
soldiers, and these were the first soldiers ever sent
to the island. There was also on the ship Ever-
ardus Bogardus, the first minister of the colony, as
well as Adam Rolandsen, the first school-master.
This school-master had a hard time of it in the new
country, for not being able to make a living by his
teaching, he was forced to do all kinds of other
work. He even took in washing for a time!
By this time negro slaves were being brought to
the colony from Africa. They did the household
work, while the colonists cultivated the fields
These slaves did most of the work on a new
wooden church which was set up just outside the
fort, for the new minister.
Governor Van Twiller began improving the col-
ony by having three windmills built, to take the place
of the horse-mill. But he had them placed in such a
position that the building in the fort cut off the wind
from their sails, and the mills were almost useless.
The Governor did not neglect his own comfort,
for within Fort Amsterdam he built for himself a
fine house of brick — finer than any in the little set-
[26]
Walter Van Twiller
tlement — and on one of the bouweries nearest the
fort, he erected a summer-house. On another bou-
werie he laid out a tobacco plantation, and had slaves
paid by the Company to look after it.
m ?V^V *: ' (h mem -- « ^\
^/? Twiller'' s Defiance.
When Van Twiller had been Governor three
years, he gave to one of the colonists a farm on the
western side of the city along the Hudson River.
The colonist died the year after the farm was given
[=7]
The Story of Manhattan
him, leaving his widow, Annetje Jans, to care for
the property.
Years after, when Queen Anne ruled in England,
and the English had come into possession of New
Netherland, she gave the Annetje Jans farm to
Trinity Church. That was almost two centuries
ago. What was once a farm is now a great business
section, crossed and recrossed by streets. Trinity
Church has held it through all the years, and holds
it still.
Close upon the time when the Jans farm was
given away by Governor Van Twiller, a sailor of note,
who had visited almost every country in the world,
founded a colony on Staten Island. This sailor
was Captain David Pietersen De Vries. Staten
Island attracted him because of its beauty. After
the colony was well started, De Vries travelled be-
tween New Netherland and Holland, and he will be
met with again in this story.
Although Governor Van Twiller did not do
much for the colonists, he was very careful to look
after his own affairs. He bought from the Indians,
[28]
The Story of Manhattan
for some goods of small value, the little spot now
called Governor's Island; which was then known as
Nut Island, because of the many nut-trees that
grew there. There is little doubt but that Gov-
Governor'' s Island and the Battery in l8jO.
ernor's Island was once a part of Long Island. It
is separated from it now by a deep arm of water
called Buttermilk Channel. The channel was so
narrow and so shallow in Van Twiller's time that
the cattle could wade across it. It was given its
[30]
Walter Van Twiller
name more than a hundred years ago, from boats
which drew very little water, and were the only
craft able to get through the channel, and which
took buttermilk from Long Island to the markets
of New York.
Van Twiller bought the islands now known as
Randall's and Ward's Islands, and these, with some
others, made him the richest landholder in the
colony. On his islands he raised cattle, and on his
farm tobacco.
Many of the colonists did not take kindly to
Governor Van Twiller's methods, and among them
was Van Dincklagen, the schout-riscal. He told
the Governor that it was very evident that he was
putting forth every effort to enrich himself at the
expense of everybody else, just as Minuit had done.
The Governor became very angry. He told the
schout-riscal not to expect any more salary, that it
would be stopped from that minute. This did not
worry the schout-fiscal much, as he had not been paid
his salary in three years ! But Van Twiller did not
stop there. He sent the schout-fiscal as a prisoner
[3.]
The Story of Manhattan
to Holland, which was a foolish thing for him to
do. For the prisoner pleaded his own cause to
such good effect that before the end of the year
1637, Van Twiller was recalled to Holland, after
he had governed New Netherland for four years,
very much to his own interest, and very much
against the interest of the West India Company
and everybody else.
Jgfe a life
Dutch Costumes.
[r-]
CHAPTER V
William Kieft and the
War with the Indians
A DREARY winter came and went, and just
as the first signs of spring showed in the
fields that closed about the' fort, a ship
sailed up the bay, bringing a stranger to the
province.
This was William Kieft, the new Governor of
New Netherland.
He was a blustering man, who became very angry
when anyone disagreed with him, and who very soon
was known as " William the Testy." He made no
effort to make the Indians his friends, and the result
was that much of his rule of ten years was a term of
bloody warfare.
The affairs of the Company had been sadly
neglected by Governor Van Twiller, and Govern-
or Kieft, in a nervous, testy, energetic fashion
set about remedying them. The fort was al-
The Story of Manhattan
most in ruins from neglect. The church was in
little better condition. The mills were so out of
repair that even if the wind could have reached
them they could not have been made to do their
work properly. There were smugglers who carried
away furs without even a thought of the koopman,
who was waiting to record the duties which should
have been paid on them. There were those who
defied all law and order, and sold guns and powder
and liquor to the Indians, regardless of the fact
that the penalty for doing so was death. For guns
and liquor had been found to be dangerous things
to put in savage hands.
Governor Kieft rebuilt the houses, put down all
smugglers, and set matters in New Amsterdam in
good working order generally. The patroon sys-
tem of peopling the colony had proven a total fail-
ure. So, soon after Kieft came, the West India
Company decided on another plan. They furnished
free passage to anyone who promised to cultivate
land in the new country. In this way there would
be no patroons to act as masters. Each man would
[34]
William Kieft
own his land, and could come and go as he saw fit.
This brought many colonists.
At this time there were really only two well-
defined roads on the Island of Manhattan. One
> <**-*.&*'£ -^
The Bowling Green in 1840.
stretched up through the island and led to the out-
lying farms and afterward became The Bowery ; the
second led along the water-side, and is to-day Pearl
Street. Bowling Green, although it was not called
Bowling Green then, was the open space in front of
[35]
The Story of Manhattan
the fort where the people gathered on holidays. In
the fourth year of Governor Kieft's rule, he con-
ceived the idea of holding fairs in this open space,
where fine cows and fat pigs could be exhibited.
These fairs attracted so many visitors from distant
parts of the colony, that the Governor had a large
stone house built, with a roof running up steep to a
peak, in regular, step-like form. This was called a
tavern, and could accommodate all the visitors. In
after years it became the first City Hall.
If you wish to stand where this building was, you
must go to the head of Coenties Slip, in Pearl
Street. On the building which is there now you
will see a bronze tablet which tells all about the old
Stadt Huys.
The church that Walter Van Twiller had built
was little better than a barn. The minister wanted
a new one. So did his congregation. Governor
Kieft decided that there should be one of stone, and
that it should be built inside the fort. There was
a question as how to secure the money to build it.
Kieft gave a small amount, as did other colonists,
[36]
William Kieft
but there was not enough. Fortunately, just at this
time, a daughter of Bogardus, the minister, was mar-
ried. At the wedding, when the guests were in good
humor, a subscription-list was handed out. The
guests tried to outdo one another in subscribing
money for the new church. Next day some of the
subscribers were sorry they had agreed to give so
much, but the Governor accepted no excuses and
insisted on the money. It was collected, and the
church was built. Close upon this time Kieft de-
cided that he needed money for other work, and he
told the Indians of the province that he expected
something from them. Of course the Indians had
no such money as we have in these days. They
used instead beads, very handsome and made from
clam-shells. These beads were arranged on strings.
There were black ones and white ones, and the
black were worth twice as much as the white. The
Indians did not see why they should give money
to the Governor. Kieft explained that it was to
pay for the protection given to them by the Dutch.
Then the Indians understood less than ever, for the
[37]
The Story of Manhattan
Dutch had never done anything for them except to
give them as little as they could for their valuable
furs. The Indians hated Kieft, and this act of his
Selling Arms to the Indians.
made their hatred more bitter. A war-cloud was
gathering. The Indians were well prepared for war,
for they had been supplied with guns, with bullets,
and with powder by those greedy Dutchmen, the
[38]
William Kieft
smugglers, who thought more of their personal
gains than of the safety of the colonists.
Over on Staten Island about this time, an Indian
stole several hogs from a colonist. Kieft's soldiers
found the tribe to which the Indian belonged, and
in revenge killed ten Indian warriors. After this
the war-cloud grew darker.
Kieft was anxious that there should be war. But
there were many of the colonists who did all in their
power to prevent it. The men who wanted peace
were headed by that able sailor, Captain David Piet-
ersen De Vries, who had founded a colony on Staten
Island. A council of twelve men was formed to
decide whether there should be peace or war. This
council declared that there should be no war. They
then began to look into public affairs, for they
thought it all wrong that Kieft should have the only
voice in the management. The Governor regretted
having called together the twelve men. But he
soon got rid of them, and to show that he was still
absolute ruler, he decided to make war upon the
Indians. Then the war-cloud broke.
[39]
The Story of Manhattan
Those Indians who lived nearest New Amster-
dam were fighting with another tribe called the
Mohawks. The nearby Indians thought that since
Kieft had been paid to protect them, he should do
so now. So they gathered, some on the Island of
Manhattan, and some on the nearby shore of New
Jersey. But instead of protecting them, Kieft sent
his soldiers against these friendly Indians, and in the
night killed them as they slept. The soldiers came
so suddenly upon the Indians, sleeping peacefully
on the Jersey shore, and slew them so quickly in the
darkness, that the Indians believed they had been
attacked by the unfriendly tribe. One Indian, with
his squaw, made his way to the fort. He was met
at the gate by De Vries. " Save us," he cried, " the
Mohawks have fallen upon us, and have killed all
our people." But De Vries answered, sadly, " No
Indian has done this. It is the Dutch who have
killed your people." And he pointed toward the
deep woods close by. " Go there for safety, but do
not come here."
This was not war. It was murder. A cruel,
[4°]
William Kieft
treacherous act, which the greater number of colo-
nists condemned and the record of which is a dark
stain on the memory of William Kieft.
After this, all the Indians within the border of
New Netherland combined. Colonists were shot as
they worked in the fields. Cattle were driven away.
Houses were robbed and burned. Women and
children were dragged into captivity. The war
raged fiercely for three years. By this time Ind-
ians and colonists were worn out. Then the war
ended. But scarcely a hundred men were left
on the Island of Manhattan. The country was
a waste.
A strong fence had been built across the island,
to keep what cattle remained within bounds. This
fence marked the extreme limit of the settlement of
New Amsterdam. The fence in time gave place
to a wall, and when in still later years the wall was
demolished and a street laid out where it had been,
the thoroughfare was called Wall Street, and re-
mains so to this day.
While the entire province was in a very bad way,
[4i]
The Story of Manhattan
and the people suffering on every side, Governor
Kieft sent to the West India Company in Hol-
land his version of the war. He showed him-
self to be all in the right, and proved, to his own
satisfaction, that the province was in a fairly good
condition ; though during all the years he had
been Governor he had not once left the settlement
on the Island of Manhattan to look after other
parts.
Certain of the colonists also sent a report to Hol-
land. Theirs being much nearer the truth, carried
such weight with it, that the West India Company
decided on the immediate recall of Governor Kieft,
who had done so much injury to the colony, and
had shown himself to be utterly incapable of gov-
erning.
Kieft returned to Holland in a ship that was
packed from stem to stern with the finest of furs.
The ship was wrecked at sea. Kieft was drowned,
and the furs were lost.
In the same ship was Everardus Bogardus (the
minister who had married Annetje Jans), who was
William Kieft
on his way to Holland on a mission relating to his
church. The people of New Amsterdam mourned
for their minister, but there was little sorrow felt for
the Governor who had plunged the colony in war by
his obstinate and cruel temper.
Smoking the Pipe of Peace.
[43]
CHAPTER VI
Peter Stuyvesant, the
Last of the Dutch
Governors
IT was a gay day for the little colony of New
Amsterdam, that May morning in the year
1647, when a one-legged man landed at the
lower part of the island, and stumped his way up
the path that led to the fort. Not only everyone
that lived in the town gathered there, but everyone
on the island, and many from more distant parts.
There were Indians, too, who walked sedately, their
quiet serenity in strange contrast to the colonists,
who yelled and shouted for joy, and clapped their
hands at every salute from the guns. And when
the fort was reached (it was only a few steps from
the river-bank) the man with the wooden leg
turned to those who followed him. The guns were
silent, and the people stood still.
[44]
Peter Stuyvesant
" I shall govern you," said he, " as a father does
his children."
Then there were more shouts, and more booming
of cannon, and the name of Peter Stuyvesant was
on every tongue. For the man with a wooden leg
was Peter Stuyvesant, the new Governor appointed
by the West India Company, and not one of those
who shouted that day had an idea that he was to be
the last of the Dutch governors.
Stuyvesant had long been in the employ of the
West India Company, and his leg had been shot
off in a battle while he was in their service.
He was a stern man, with a bad temper, and
seemed to have made it a point in life never to
yield to anyone in anything. He ruled in the way
he thought best, and he let it always be under-
stood that he did not care much for the advice
of others. He did what he could for the people
to make their life as happy as possible. Of course
he had orders from the West India Company that
he was bound to obey, and these orders did not
always please the people. But his rule was just,
[45]
The Story of Manhattan
and he was the most satisfactory of all the Dutch
governors.
Stuyvesant's first work was to put the city in
better condition. He did this by having the vacant
lots about the fort either built upon or cleared.
The hog-pens which had been in front of the
houses were taken away. All the fences were put in
repair, and where weeds had grown rank, they were
replaced by pretty gardens. These, and a great
many other things he did, until the town took on
quite a new air.
Up to this time the people had been ruled
by governors who did all things just as they
saw fit. They became tired of this, and com-
plained so much that the Company in Holland
decided to make a change. So after Stuyve-
sant had been Governor for a while, some other
officers were appointed to help him. There was
one officer called a schout, very much the same
as a mayor is in these days. Two others were
called burgomasters, and five others were called
schepens. The burgomasters and the schepens
[46]
Peter Stuyvesant
presided over the trials, in the stone tavern which
Governor Kieft had built at Coenties Slip, and
'*IM«.
The Old Stadt Huys of New Amsterdam.
which had now become the Stadt Huys or City
Hall.
With the appointment of these officers, New
[47]
The Story of Manhattan
Amsterdam became a city. But as Governor Stuy-
vesant named the officers and as he plainly told them
that they must not interfere with his orders, and as
he still had his own way, regardless of what the of-
ficers said and did, the colony was little different as
a city from what it had been before.
In the fall of this year, 165a, war was declared
between England and Holland. Stuyvesant, fearing
that the English in New England, which was on
the borders of New Netherland, would attack the
city, set about fortifying it. The fence that Gov-
ernor Kieft had built so that the cattle could not
wander away was changed into a wall that extended
from river to river. The fort was repaired, and a
strong body of citizens mounted guard by day and
by night. Everything was prepared for an attack.
But the enemy did not come after all.
Matters went along quietly enough for three years,
until some Swedes on the Delaware River began to
build houses on Dutch lands. Then Stuyvesant,
with 160 men, in seven ships, sailed around to
the Delaware River, and conquered the Swedes.
[48]
Peter Stuyvesant
It was quite ten years since the Indian war, and
Stuyvesant, by his kindness, had made friends of
the savages, and had come to be called their " great
friend." But soon after he left to make war on the
Swedes, one of the colonists killed an Indian. In
a few days there was an uprising of Indian tribes.
In New Jersey and on Staten Island they murdered
colonists, burned houses, and laid farms waste.
Stuyvesant hurriedly returned. He made peace
with the Indians, treating them kindly, as though
there had never been any trouble. He gave them
presents, and used such gentle measures that the
war which had threatened to be so serious ended
abruptly.
In the calmer days that followed, attention was
given to improvements in the city. By this time
there were a thousand persons on the island.
Streets were nicely laid out, and the city of New
Amsterdam grew, day by day. It was a tiny place
still, however, for it all lay below the present Wall
Street. Some distance beyond the city wall was a
fenced-in pasture for cattle, which was later to be-
[49]
The Story of Manhattan
come The Common, and still later City Hall Park.
Farther on there was a wide lake, so deep that it
was thought to be bottomless. On its banks were
a vast heap of oyster-shells, where an Indian village
had been. This place was called Kalch-hook, or
Shell-point. Afterward it was shortened to The
Kalch, and in time was called The Collect. The
lake was called Collect Lake. There is no trace
of it to-day, for it was filled in, and the Tombs
Prison now stands upon the spot.
The entire province was in a flourishing con-
dition, but danger was near. The English had
long looked with covetous eye upon the possessions
of the Dutch in America. The English, it must be
remembered, claimed not only New Netherland,
but a great part of the American continent, on the
plea that the Cabots had discovered it.
After all this long time, when the Cabots had
been forgotten by most persons, in the year 1664,
Charles II. decided that the English claim was just,
and gave New Netherland to his brother James,
Duke of York. The Duke of York at once sent
[50]
ft"
CO
Peter Stuyvesant
four ships filled with soldiers to take possession of
his property.
When the English war-ships sailed up the bay,
the town was ill-protected, and the people had no
desire to resist, for Stuyvesant and the West India
Company had been most strict, and they hoped to
be more free under English rule. Stuyvesant, with
scarcely a supporter, stood firm and unyielding.
He had no thought of submitting to superior force.
" I would rather be carried out dead," he ex-
claimed. But when at length he realized that he
was absolutely alone, and that there were no means
of defence for the city, he surrendered.
On this same morning of September 8, 1664,
Stuyvesant, with his head bowed sadly, marched at
the head of his soldiers out of Fort Amsterdam,
with flags flying and drums beating. And the
English soldiers, who had landed, and were waiting
a little way off, entered the fort with their flags fly-
ing and their drums beating.
So the city of New Amsterdam became the city of
New York, and the province of New Netherland
[53]
The Story of Manhattan
became the province of New York, and Fort Am-
sterdam became Fort James — all this in honor of
James, Duke of York, who now came into posses-
sion.
Stuyvesant went to Holland to explain why he
had surrendered New Netherland. But he came
back again, and years after he died in the little
Bouwerie Village which he had built. In St.
Mark's Church to this day may be seen a tablet
which tells that the body of the last Dutch Gov-
ernor lies buried there.
v,riff
^MaV^^h-^^- BBS SfedE
In CKwVauIt I iesr buried
SC PETRUS STUYVESANT
CaptainGencra^GovernorinChiefofAmsterfktm
InNewNeflierland now called.New- \ork
And£KeDutchWe^Ir.di'alslands.Diec[J\.D.l6j-j
Aged 30 years-
[54]
CHAPTER VII
New York under the Eng-
lish and the Dutch
SO now the conquered province had come into
the possession of the Duke of York, and
Colonel Richard Nicolls, who was in com-
mand of the English soldiers, took charge. This first
English Governor appeared anxious to make all the
people his friends. He made Thomas Willett
Mayor, and Willett being very popular, all the citi-
zens rejoiced, and said the new Governor was a fine
man. During three years Colonel Nicolls hu-
mored the people so much that they were well sat-
isfied. At the end of that time he had grown tired
of the new country, and asked to be relieved. The
people were really sorry when he returned to Eng-
land and Francis Lovelace took his place.
Governor Lovelace did not get along so well.
He was a man of harsh manner, who did not have
the patience or the inclination to flatter with fine
[55]
The Story of Manhattan
promises. Lovelace wanted everyone to under-
stand that he was master. Very soon, when the
people said they thought they should have the
right to control their own affairs, the Governor
Departure of Nicolls.
told them that he did not think it was best for
them to have too much to do with the governing
of the city. But he did some things that pleased
the people. For one thing, he brought about the
[56]
New York under the English and Dutch
custom of having merchants meet once a week at
a bridge which crossed Broad Street at the present
Exchange Place. There is no bridge there now,
but in those days it was necessary, for Broad Street
was a ditch which extended from the river almost
to Wall Street. But though the ditch has been
filled up, and the bridge is gone, the locality has
ever since been one where merchants have gath-
ered.
The Governor also had a messenger make regu-
lar trips to Boston with letters, which was the first
mail route from the city. Matters were going
along nicely when trouble arose between England
and Holland again. Then the Dutch decided that
it would be a good time to get back their lost prov-
ince of New Netherland. The English in New
York heard of this, and made all sorts of warlike
preparations. But the Dutch were so long in com-
ing that the preparations for war were given up.
Finally the Dutch ships did arrive unexpectedly,
sailing up the bay one morning in the month of
July, in the year 1673. Governor Lovelace was in
[57]
The Story of Manhattan
a distant part of the colony, and the city had been
left under the care of Captain John Manning.
Manning was in despair. He knew full well
that there was no hope of defending the city suc-
cessfully. He sent a messenger dashing off to the
Governor, and he sent another to the Dutch ships to
ask what they were doing in the bay, just as though
he did not know. The Dutch sent word back that
the city must be surrendered to them that same
day. And to show they meant what was said, the
Dutch admiral despatched one of his captains, An-
thony Colve by name, who landed with 600 men.
The Dutch captain agreed that if the English left
the fort without a show of resistance, they could do
so with the honors of war and without interference.
Then he and his soldiers tramped down the road
that is now Broadway. The English marched out
of the fort, and the Dutch marched in; just as nine
years before the Dutch had marched out and the
English had marched in.
When the King in England heard that New
York had been so easily captured, all the blame
[58]
New York under the English and Dutch
was placed on Captain Manning, and after a time
you will see what became of him.
Captain Colve took charge of the reconquered
The Dutch Ultimatum.
province. He began industriously to undo all that
the English had done. The province was again
named New Netherland. The city was called New
[59]
The Story of Manhattan
Orange, in honor of the Prince of Orange — a prince
of Holland, who in a few years was to marry a
daughter of the Duke of York, and who in a few
more years was to be King of England under the
title of William III.
Captain Colve put the fort in good condition,
repaired the city wall, made a soldier of every man
and drilled them every day. He had the city gates
locked at night, and put a guard at them to see
that no one came in or passed out.
In less than a year, when the city was in shape
to be defended, the English and the Dutch made
up their quarrel. The province of New Nether-
land was returned to the English, and became again
the province of New York, and the Dutch soldiers
left the Island of Manhattan, never again to return
to it in warlike array.
[60]
CHAPTER VIII
Something about the
Bolting Act
EDMUND ANDROS was sent to govern
New York for the Duke of York. The
people complained a good deal because he
acted as though he were a king with absolute
power. They asked that they have some voice in
the direction of their affairs. They got up a peti-
tion and sent it to the Duke in England.
" What do the people want ? ' said the Duke.
" If they are not satisfied, they can always appeal to
me." He did not see that they had just appealed
to him, and in vain.
Captain Manning, who had been in charge of
the province when the Dutch recaptured it, came
again to New York with Andros. Many who had
lost their property by the coming of the Dutch,
complained bitterly to Andros. So the Governor,
and his council, and the officers of the city held
[6,]
The Story of Manhattan
many conferences, with the result that Captain
Manning was arrested. He was found guilty of
cowardice, and his sword was broken in front of the
Stadt Huys in the presence of the citizens, and
he was declared, on the good authority of King
Charles II., unfit ever again to hold public office.
Although disgraced, Captain Manning did not
seem to care much. He owned a beautiful wooded
island in the East River, to which he now retired.
He was wealthy, and there he lived and entertained
royally during the remainder of his life.
Andros did many things for the general good.
When he had been Governor four years, and when
the most important product of trade was flour, a
law was made by which no one was permitted to
make flour outside of the city. This was called
the Bolting Act. Flour cannot be made unless it
is " bolted " — or has the bran taken from it — and so
the act came by its name. The right to grind all
the grain into flour may not now seem very import-
ant, but it really was, for it brought all the trade to
the city. So you see the Bolting Act was a very
[62]
Something about the Bolting Act
good thing for the city, and very bad for the peo-
ple who did not live in the city. The city folks
became very prosperous indeed, but the others,
because they could not make or sell flour, became
poorer day by day.
This went on for sixteen years, and then the law
came to an end. But by that time all the business
of the entire province had
centred in the city so firmly
that it could not be drawn
away.
So, after this, when you
look at a picture of the Seal of
New York, and see a wind-
mill and two barrels of flour, you will remember
that the windmill sails worked the mill, and the
barrels were filled with flour which laid the founda-
tion of the city's fortunes ; and were put on the seal
so that this fact would always be remembered. The
beavers on the seal suggest the early days when the
trade in beaver skins made a city possible. At one
time there was a crown on the seal — a king's crown
[63]
The Story of Manhattan
— but that gave way to an eagle when the English
King no longer had a claim on New York.
Now that the province was prosperous, one
would think that the people would have been quite
happy. But they were not. They did not like
Governor Andros because they thought that he
taxed them too heavily, and they sent so many
petitions to the Duke of York that, in 1681,
Andros was recalled, and Colonel Thomas Dongan
was appointed the new Governor. A few years
later, when the Duke of York became King James
II., he remembered how carefully Andros had car-
ried out his orders, and appointed him Governor of
New England ; where he conducted matters so
much to the satisfaction of his King that he earned
the title of "The Tyrant of New England."
When Governor Dongan reached the city and
announced that the Duke had instructed him to let
the people have something to say as to how they
should be governed, he was joyfully received. It
really seemed now that everything was going to be
satisfactory. But there came a sudden check.
[64]
Something about the Bolting Act
Two years after Dongan became Governor, the
Duke of York was made King of England. He
thereupon ordered Dongan to make all the laws
himself, without regard to what the people did or
did not want. The power to make the laws was a
great power, but Governor Dongan was a fair and
just man and did not abuse it. The year after this
he granted a charter to the city, known ever since
as the Dongan Charter, which was so just that it is
still the base on which the rights of citizens rest.
But while Dongan was popular with the King's
subjects, he became unpopular with the King. This
was because he stood in the way of the plans of his
royal master whenever those plans interfered with
the good of the people. He must have known
what the result would be. Whether he knew it or
not, it came in the year 1688. The King joined
the colony of New England and the colony of
New York, and called this united territory New
England. Dongan then ceased to be Governor,
having ruled the province well.
[65]
CHAPTER IX
The Stirring Times
of Jacob Leisler
SIR EDMUND ANDROS, who, you will
remember, had been appointed Governor of
New England, had been knighted for obey-
ing the King's commands. He now became Gov-
ernor of the united provinces. He made his home
in Boston, and left the care of New York to his
deputy, Francis Nicholson. In this year a son was
born to the English King, and the people rejoiced.
But these were stormy times in England, for King
James II. was a tyrant who ordered a great many of
his subjects killed when they refused to believe in
what he believed. And the people, grown weary
and heartsick, overthrew King James and put Will-
iam III. on the throne. So the sights and sounds
of rejoicing over the birth of a prince were scarcely
over, when the news came that James was no longer
King, and New York was soon in a state of confusion.
[66]
The Stirring Times of Jacob Leisler
In what had been New England before the prov-
inces were united, the people hated Andros. They
arrested him. And as they had never been in favor
of uniting New England and New York, they re-
stored their old officers and disunited the two prov-
inces, Andros was sent a prisoner to England to give
an account of his doings to King William, and New
York was left without a Governor. The men who
had served under King James insisted that they re-
main in charge of the province until King William
sent new officers to replace them. But most of
them wanted to have all who had had anything to
do with King James put out of office at once. So
those who wanted this change took charge of the
city, and chose as their leader a citizen named Jacob
Leisler. More than twenty years before, this Jacob
Leisler had come from Holland as a soldier of the
West India Company. He had left the service and
had become a wealthy merchant. He had a rude
manner, and but little education. He looked upon
as an enemy, and as an enemy of King William,
every man who did not think as he did.
[67]
The Story of Manhattan
The mass of the people now gathered around
Leisler and became known as the Leislerian party.
They selected a number of citizens, calling them
the Committee of Safety, and the committee gave
Leisler power to see that peace was preserved.
Those who were opposed to Leisler, but who, just
as strongly as he, favored King William, were called
the anti-Leislerian party. These last were headed
by Francis Nicholson, who had watched over the
colony for Governor Andros. Nicholson rinding
that he had few followers, sailed for England.
Leisler had the fortifications repaired, and a
battery of guns set up outside the fort. This is the
battery which gave to the present locality its name,
though all signs of guns have disappeared.
Leisler had an adviser in Jacob Milborne, his
son-in-law, who wrote his letters, and counselled
him in every way.
In December came a messenger from King Will-
iam, with a commission for whoever was in charge
of the city, to act until further orders. Leisler ob-
tained possession of the commission. He became
[68]
The Stirring Times of Jacob Leisler
bolder after this, and showed such a disposition to
do just as he pleased, that he made enemies of a
great many of his friends. Advised by Milborne,
he made laws, and imprisoned all those who refused
to obey them or to recognize his authority. Day by
day those who were opposed to Leisler and Mil-
borne grew in numbers. Street riots occurred, and
several persons were injured. Leisler's life was
threatened, and he went about attended by a guard
of soldiers. Finally Nicholas Bayard, whp had been
Mayor, and who was looked upon as leader of the
anti-Leislerian party, was put in prison with some
others. Bayard would doubtless have been ex-
ecuted had he not written an humble letter to
Leisler saying that he had been in the wrong and
Leisler in the right. But he wrote to save his
life, not that he really believed himself to be in
the wrong. He did save his life, but he was kept
in jail.
Leisler's enemies continued active. They had a
powerful friend in Francis Nicholson, who had
reached England and had been received with favor
[69]
The Story of Manhattan
there. He hated Leisler, and denounced him as a
traitor before King William.
Leisler, after he had taken charge of the province,
wrote to the King, but his letter was written in im-
perfect English and was not understood. Matters
were in a bad state, and were daily becoming worse,
when the King appointed Henry Sloughter Gov-
ernor of New York.
New York in zyoo.
[70]
CHAPTER X
The Sad End of ]acob
Leisler
THIS Henry Sloughter was not a good
choice. He was a worthless man, who
had travelled a great deal, and had spent
other people's money whenever he could get it.
Now, when he could find no one in England to
supply him with money, he took the post of Gov-
ernor of New York, and his only thought was
how much money he could wring from the people.
The enemies of Leisler rejoiced at his coming, for
they knew that it meant the downfall of Leisler.
Sloughter sailed for New York with a body of
soldiers, but his ship was tossed about by the sea,
and carried far out of its course, so that the ship
of his assistant, Major Richard Ingoldsby, arrived
first. But Leisler refused to give up command un-
til Sloughter came. This was three months later,
and during that time Ingoldsby and his soldiers did
[7i]
The Story of Manhattan
all they could to harass Leisler, who held posses-
sion of the little fort, and refused to give it up un-
til he saw the King's order.
When Sloughter arrived, members of the party
opposed to Leisler hurried on board the vessel,
and escorted him to the City Hall, where at mid-
night he took the oath of office.
Within a few days Governor Sloughter and his
friends met in the City Hall, where the council of
the new Governor was sworn in — a council every
member of which was an enemy of Leisler. Then
Leisler was arrested, with his son-in-law, Milborne,
and both were condemned to death as rebels. But
the Governor was afraid of displeasing the King by
putting Leisler to death, for, after all, Leisler was
the man who had been the first to recognize the
authority of King William in New York. He re-
fused to sign the death-warrant. But the enemies
of Leisler were not content. Nicholas Bayard, who
had become more than ever bitter because he had
been kept for thirteen months in prison, was anx-
ious for revenge. The council urged the Governor
[7*]
tone.- mm. n
Sloughter Signing Leis/er's Death-warrant.
The Story of Manhattan
to carry out the sentence, and he finally signed the
death-warrant. Two days later Leisler and Mil-
borne were led to execution. The scaffold had
been erected in Leisler's own garden, close by
where the post-office is now. The people thronged
about it, standing in the cold, drizzling rain. They
wept, for many of them had been on the side of
Leisler.
Leisler ascended the scaffold with firm step, and
looked at the people he had tried to serve.
" What I have done has been for the good of
my country," he said, sadly. " I forgive my ene-
mies, as I hope to be forgiven."
And so he died ; believing that he had done his
duty.
Milborne was full of hate for those who caused
his death. Close by the scaffold stood Robert
Livingston, a citizen who had always been strongly
opposed to Leisler. To this man Milborne point-
ed, and fiercely cried :
" You have caused my death. For this I will im-
peach you before the Bar of God." And so he died.
[74]
The Sad End of Jacob Leisler
The bodies of both men were interred close by
the scaffold.
Four years later the English Parliament declared
that Leisler had acted under the King's command,
and had therefore been in the right, after all. So
tardy justice was done to Leisler's memory.
After the death of Leisler, there was an end of
open revolt, and affairs were reasonably quiet, al-
though it was many a long year before the rancor
of the late struggle and the bitter hatred of the
friends and enemies of Leisler died out.
Order was restored, and attention was turned to
public improvement. New streets were laid out,
and markets were built. In front of the City Hall,
by the water-side of Coenties Slip, there were set up
a whipping-post, a cage, a pillory, and a ducking-
block ; which were to serve as warnings to evil-
doers, and to be used in case the warning was not
effective.
But Sloughter did not live to see these improve-
ments completed. A few months after his arrival
he died suddenly, so suddenly that there was a sug-
[75]
The Story of Manhattan
gestion that he had been poisoned by some friend
of Leisler. But it was proven that his death was a
natural one, and his body was placed in a vault next
to that of Peter Stuyvesant, in the Bouwerie Village
church-yard.
[76]
CHAPTER XI
Governor Fletcher
and the Privateers
WHEN Benjamin Fletcher became the
next Governor of New York, in the
month of August, 1692, the people
gave a great public dinner in his honor, and there
were expressions of deep joy that so wise and
good and pious a man had been sent to rule over
them.
But Governor Fletcher soon came to be disliked.
He tried by every means to enrich himself at the
public expense. More than that, he wished to
make the Church of England the only church of
the province, and to have the English language the
only language spoken. All of which the people
did not like, for the majority of them still spoke
the Dutch language and attended the Dutch
church.
Governor Fletcher had great trouble in getting
[77]
The Story of Manhattan
the Assembly (the body of men who helped him to
govern the province) to agree with him, but he
finally won them over in the matter of the Church
of England. One of the churches built at this time
was Trinity Church. It was a quaint, square build-
ing, with a tall spire — not the Trinity Church of
this day, although it stood on the same spot.
Bradford* 's Tombstone.
[78]
Governor Fletcher and the Privateers
In the year after Fletcher came, the first printing-
press was set up in the city by William Bradford,
who came from Philadelphia for that purpose. He
became the public printer, and afterward issued the
first newspaper. He did a great deal for the gen-
eral good, and when he died he was buried in
Trinity Church-yard. Even now you can see the
stone that marks his grave, close by the side-
entrance of the present church.
During much of the time that Fletcher governed,
the French in Canada were continually threatening
to fight with the English in New York. There
were fierce and bloody conflicts on the border, but
no enemy reached the city. There was also another
danger that grew stronger day by day. It came
about as the result of privateering.
A privateer was a vessel which under commission
from one country, carried on war with the ships of
other countries. The captains were called priva-
teers, as were the ships. These privateers were
so successful that they grew bold, and instead of
attacking only the ships of enemies of their coun-
[79]
The Story of Manhattan
try, they threw away their commissions and at-
tacked ships of all countries for their private gain.
Then they were called pirates. They became rob-
bers and murderers, for they murdered as well as
robbed. These pirates bore down upon the ships of
all nations, carried off their cargoes, then sunk the
vessels without knowing or caring how many were
on board, that none might escape to tell the tale.
Nowhere were the pirates more daring than near
the American coast. The vessels of New York
merchants were burned within sight of shore, and
the pirates were even bold enough to enter the
harbor and seize the ships as they lay at anchor.
The officials of the province made no apparent
effort to suppress these pirates. It was thought
then, and has since been believed, that they assisted
them, and were well paid for such help. Governor
Fletcher himself was suspected of sharing in the
pirate booty. Merchants who feared to carry on
regular trade, as their ships were almost sure to be
seized, came, after a time, to lend their aid also to
the pirates, by buying their cargoes.
[80]
Governor Fletcher and the Privateers
Finally, very few ships dared to cross the ocean.
Then the English Government became alarmed.
The Reading of Fletcher* s Commission.
A new Governor was searched for — a man strong
enough to resist the bribery of pirate crews, and
able to drive them off the seas. And just such a
man was found.
[81]
CHAPTER XII
Containing the True
Life ^Captain Kidd
IN England there lived a man who had been
a great friend of King William ; who had
been his friend even before he had become
King. This man was Lord Bellomont. It was he
who was chosen Governor in the year 1696. But
it was two years after this that he reached New
York. During these two years he worked hard in
the interests of the province. He knew all about
the pirates, and knew that it would take a strong
force to subdue them. He called upon the Eng-
lish Government to fit out men for this purpose.
But the Government had neither men, nor ships,
nor guns to spare.
So Lord Bellomont decided to raise a private
armed force. He got together a company, of which
the King was a member, and they fitted out a strong
and fast-sailing vessel called the Adventure Gal-
[82]
The True Life of Captain Kidd
ley. Lord Bellomont looked about for a good
captain. At last he thought he had found just the
man in Captain William Kidd. Captain Kidd just
at this time happened to be in London, where he
was well known, and well liked. His home was in
New York, where his wife and daughter lived in
a fine house in Crown Street, and where he was a
respected citizen. But best of all for the Company,
Captain Kidd had been in command of a privateer,
and knew a good deal about pirates and their ways.
And so it came about that Captain Kidd sailed
away, commander of the Adventure Galley, with
its crew of sixty sailors, and its thirty guns, to de-
stroy the pirates.
Then followed a space of time during which
news of the bold Captain was eagerly awaited. It
came soon enough — news that was startling. Cap-
tain Kidd had been tempted by the adventurous
life and great gains, and had himself turned pirate !
During the next two years he was heard of as the
most daring and fierce of pirates, plundering and
sinking ships, until his name became a terror on the
[83]
The Story of Manhattan
sea. He collected great treasure, and then decided
to give up piracy. He returned to New York, and
touched first at Gardiner's Island, a bit of land at
the eastern end of Long Island. There he buried a
portion of his treasure. The remainder he divided
with his crew. Then he went to Boston, took a
new name, and intended to live in quiet and lux-
ury during the remainder of his life. But, unfort-
unately, one day Lord Bellomont was in Boston,
met him, and caused his arrest. In a few months
he was sent to England in chains. There he was
executed.
When it was known that Captain Kidd had made
a stop at Gardiner's Island, search was made there
and the hidden treasure was dug up. There were
rumors from time to time that Kidd and his pirate
crew had stopped at points on the East River shore
of the Island of Manhattan, and many men hunted
that shore and sought in many places for hidden
treasure, but none was ever found there.
During the time that Captain Kidd was roaming
the sea, Lord Bellomont was governing New York.
3
J
^
The Story of Manhattan
The new Governor was at first much admired. He
was a fine man, with faultless manners, and a com-
mander in every inch of his tall figure. He had
hands as soft as a woman's, a kindly eye, and a
gentle voice. But he could be stern, and was stern
and unyielding, too, when occasion required. He
dressed in better taste than anyone who had ever
lived in the province, and his horses and carriage
were finer than had ever before been seen in the
city.
Friends of the dead Jacob Leisler had told Lord
Bellomont tales of what a good man Leisler had
been, and how he had been unjustly executed. So
Lord Bellomont, to the end of his life, favored the
friends of Leisler.
He was firmly convinced that many of the city
merchants had become rich through dealings with
the pirates. This belief made many enemies for
him. Then, too, there were laws which would not
permit merchants to trade with any country except
England ; hard laws, that were constantly broken,
for the merchants could not see why they should
[86]
The True Life of Captain Kidd
not trade with anyone they saw fit. Bellomont was
so strict in enforcing these laws and in collecting
duties that he made more enemies, who sought his
recall.
Nevertheless many improvements were carried
out while Bellomont was Governor. A first effort
was made to light the streets, which had, up to this
time, only had the light of the moon at night.
This was done by a lantern with a candle in it hung
on a pole from the window of every seventh house.
A night-watch was also established, consisting of
four men.
After Bellomont had been Governor for a few
years, what remained of the city wall was removed,
and Wall Street had its beginning on the line of the
old wall. The same year the old Stadt Huys was
found to be in a state of decay. Then a new city hall
was erected on the new Wall Street, close by where
Nassau Street now touches it. There were dun-
geons in the new building for criminals, cells in the
attic for debtors, and a court-room on the main floor.
The first library, under the name of the Corpora-
[87]
The Story of Manhattan
.
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tion Library, was opened in the City Hall. This
is the library that afterward became the Society
Library. It is still in existence, and now has its
home in University Place.
All in all, Lord Bellomont was a good Governor,
who did much for the people, and much to make
the city an agreeable place to live in ; and there was
deep regret when he died suddenly in the year
1701. He was buried in the chapel in the fort,
[88]
The True Life of Captain Kidd
and as an especial honor to his memory his coat-
of-arms was fixed on the wall of the new City Hall
in Wall Street. This was a great honor, even
though the fickle people, a few years later, when
a new Governor came, did tear down the arms and
burn them in the street.
John Nanfan, the Lieutenant-Governor, took
command of the province until news reached the
city that Lord Cornbury had been appointed Gov-
ernor. Nicholas Bayard, who had made such a
bitter fight against Leisler, and who had been im-
prisoned so long, hated Governor Nanfan, because
Nanfan was a friend of the people who called them-
selves the Leislerian party. So Bayard sent an ad-
dress to Lord Cornbury saying that Nanfan was an
enemy. But Nanfan arrested Bayard, and had him
tried under the self-same act under which Leisler had
been tried. This act pronounced traitors anyone
who should make an effort to disturb the peace of
the province. Bayard was sentenced to death, but
a reprieve was granted pending the pleasure of the
King. Before word could be got to England,
[89]
The Story of Manhattan
Lord Cornbury arrived. Bayard was promoted
to a place of honor, and there was a scattering
of the Leislerians, who were now looked upon
as enemies of the Government.
Fort George in 1740.
[9°]
CHAPTER XIII
Lord Cornbury makes
Himself very Unpopular
IT was in the year that Princess Anne became
Queen of England (1702) that Edward Hyde,
Lord Cornbury, eldest son of the Earl of
Clarendon, was sent to govern New York. He
was a cousin of the Queen, and left England to
escape the demands of those to whom he owed
money.
When Lord Cornbury arrived in New York, the
Mayor, with much ceremony, presented him with a
box of gold, containing the freedom of the city,
which gave to him every privilege. It was a great
deal of trouble and expense to go to, for the Gov-
ernor would have taken all the privileges, even if
the Mayor had not gone through the form of giving
them.
Governor Cornbury very soon let his new sub-
jects see that he was eager to acquire wealth, and
[91]
The Story of Manhattan
that he intended to get it without the slightest
regard for their interests or desires.
The Queen had told him that he should do all in
his power to make the Church of England the es-
tablished church of the land ; that he should build
new churches, punish drunkenness, swearing, and all
such vices, and that he should keep the colony sup-
plied with negro slaves.
There was much sickness in the town — so much
that it became epidemic. So the Governor and his
council went to the little village of Jamaica, on
Long Island, and carried on the business of the city
in a Presbyterian church building. When the epi-
demic had passed, he gave the church to the Epis-
copalians, because he remembered that Queen Anne
had told him to make the Church of England the
established church. There were riotous times in
Jamaica after that, but the Episcopal clergyman
occupied the house, and the Episcopalians wor-
shipped in the church regardless of all protests.
Not many improvements were made during Lord
Cornbury's administration. He cared little for the
Lord Cornbury makes Himself Unpopular
good of the city or for anything else except his own
pleasures. The constant fear of war gave the peo-
ple little time to think of improvements. They
did, however, pave Broadway from Trinity Church
to the Bowling Green. But do not imagine that
this pavement was anything like those of to-day.
It was of cobble-stones, and the gutters ran through
the middle of the street.
The Governor came to be detested more and
more by the people, for as the years went by he
spent their money recklessly. He had a habit of
walking about the fort in the dress of a woman,
and another habit of giving dinners to his friends
that lasted well on toward morning, when the guests
sang and shouted so boisterously that the quiet citi-
zens of the little town could not sleep.
So when the people grew very, very tired of it,
they sent word to Oueen Anne that her kinsman
was a very bad Governor. And she, after much
hesitation, when he had been Governor six years, re-
moved him from office. She no sooner did this, than
those to whom he owed money, and there were a
[.93]
The Story of Manhattan
great many of them, had him put in the debtors'
prison, in the upper story of the City Hall in Wall
Street. And in jail he remained for several months,
until his father, the Karl of Clarendon, died, and
money was sent for the release of the debtor pris-
oner, who was now a peer of Great Britain.
.' ,\r< KX^: *'v- *" ?'i
Fiew in Broad Street about IJ40.
[94]
CHAPTER XIV
Lord Lovelace and
Robert Hunter
THE new Governor arrived in the last
months of the year 1708. He was John,
Lord Lovelace. As there had been so
much trouble caused by the governors appropriat-
ing money belonging to the citizens, he decided to
take a very different course. He had the public
accounts looked into, and said, " I wish it known
to all the world that the public debt has not been
contracted in my time." And having said this
(which made a fine impression) the Governor asked
the Assembly to set aside enough money for him
to run the affairs of the province for a number of
years. This was to be called a permanent revenue.
But the Assembly would do no such thing. In
the midst of the discussion, Governor Lovelace
died, five months after his arrival.
It was quite a year after the death of Lovelace
[95]
The Story of Manhattan
before his successor came. This was Robert Hun-
ter, a most exceptional man. His parents were
poor, and when a boy he had run away from home
and had joined the British army. By working very
hard at his books when the army was not fighting,
by studying in the soldiers' quarters and on the
battle-field, by making friends with officers of high
rank, Hunter had grown to manhood brave, well
educated, and of graceful manner. On coming to
New York he at once made friends with many in-
fluential persons. His most important friendship
was with Lewis Morris, whom he afterward ap-
pointed chief-justice. This Morris was a son of
Richard Morris, an officer in Cromwell's army, who
had come to the province, purchased a manor ten
miles square near Harlem, and called it Morrisania
— by which name it is still known.
The year after Hunter arrived, New York joined
with New England in a plan to conquer Canada
(which belonged to the French) and join it to the
English colonies. Money was raised, troops were
gotten together, and ships and soldiers were sent
[96]
Lord Lovelace and Robert Hunter
from England. But when the attack was to be
made, the English ships struck on the rocks in a
fog off the coast of Canada, and eight of them sank
with more than 800 men. This great loss put an
end to the intended invasion. The soldiers re-
turned home, where there was great sorrow at the
dismal failure of a project that had cost so much
money and so many lives.
Governor Hunter had only been in the province
a short time when he began to urge the Assembly
to grant him that permanent revenue that Lovelace
had asked for. Queen Anne had said that he was
to have it. But the Assembly would only grant
him money from year to year.
About this time the first public market for the
sale of negro slaves was established at the foot of
Wall Street. More and more slaves were brought
into the city, and the laws were made more and
more strict to keep them in the most abject bondage.
It had come to be the law that no more than four
slaves could meet together at one time. They were
not permitted to pass the city gates, nor to carry
[97]
The Story of Manhattan
weapons of any sort. Should one appear on the
street after nightfall without a lighted lantern, he
was put in jail and his master was fined. Some-
times a slave murdered his owner. Then he was
burned at the stake, after scarcely the pretence of a
The Slave-Market. From an Old Print.
trial ; or was suspended from the branches of a tall
tree and left there to die.
But although the slaves were restrained and
beaten and killed, their numbers increased so fast
that the citizens were always in fear that they might
one day rise up and kill all their masters. A riot
did occur the year after the slave-market was set
[98]
Lord Lovelace and Robert Hunter
up. Several white men were killed and a house
was burned. Many negroes were then arrested
and nineteen of them were executed under a
charge of having engaged in a plot against the
whites.
Affairs moved along quietly for a time after the
riot. The next most interesting happening was
the putting up of the first public clock, on the City
Hall in Wall Street. It was the gift of Stephen
De Lancey.
De Lancey was a Huguenot nobleman, who had
fled from France when the Huguenots were perse-
cuted for their faith, and had found a home in the
new world. He lived in a mansion at the corner of
what are now Pearl and Broad Streets. The house
is there yet, still called Fraunces's Tavern from the
owner who turned it into a tavern after De Lancey
removed from it.
Governor Hunter was becoming very popular
with the people, when unfortunately his health
failed. So he surrendered the government into the
hands of Peter Schuyler, who was the oldest mem-
[99]
The Story of Manhattan
ber in the City Council, and went to Europe, hav-
ing served for nine years. For thirteen months
Schuyler took charge, until William Burnet, the
new Governor, replaced him.
Fr Minces' ' s Tavern.
[100]
CHAPTER XV
Governor Burnet
and the French Traders
GOVERNOR WILLIAM BURNET was
the son of a celebrated bishop of Eng-
land.
His early days were passed at the Court of Will-
iam III., where he met people of refinement and
culture. Of an observing nature, and studying a
great deal, he came to be a man of deep learning, a
good talker, with manners that attracted attention
wherever he went — so fine were they.
The city was gayly decorated in honor of his
coming. Women looked from their windows and
waved their handkerchiefs. Men crowded the
streets and loudly shouted their welcome.
Soon after, he married the daughter of a leading
merchant, and so identified himself at once with the
city's interests. He became the fast friend of Chief-
Justice Lewis Morris. Another friendship was that
[IOI]
The Story of Manhattan
he formed with Dr. Cadwallader Colden. We shall
hear more of this man later. Besides being a phy-
sician of note, he had a world-wide reputation as a
writer on many scientific subjects.
Along about this time the French were trying
hard to get all the trade with the Indians, not only
in the province of New York, but in all the lands
as far west as the Mississippi country that was then
wild and unexplored. By this they could make a
great deal of money, but, better still, would make
friends of the powerful Indian tribes. Then the
French hoped that the Indians would join with
them against the English and that they could con-
quer all the English lands in America.
The New York merchants were quite content to
let the French do the trading with the Indians, for
the French traders bought all their goods in New
York, and the merchants in selling to them did not
run the great risk of being murdered, as they would
in trading with the Indians in the forests. But al-
though the merchants were satisfied, Governor Bur-
net was not. He realized the danger to the English
[102]
Governor Burnet and the French Traders
provinces should the Indians become enemies. So
he decided to establish a line of English trading
stations that would enable the colonists to trade di-
rectly with the Indians in safety. He also made it
unlawful to sell goods in New York to the French
traders.
The merchants bitterly disapproved of these acts
of Governor Burnet. They believed that he had
dealt a death-blow to their French trade, and they
became his bitter enemies. He tried hard to estab-
lish the line of trading stations, but the English
Government refused to help him with money, and
the project had to be abandoned, and the law against
the French trade, which had caused the trouble, was
repealed. The trade was once more carried on.
By this time George II. had become King of
England, which was in the year 1728. Influence
was brought to bear, and Governor Burnet was
removed, and left the province a poorer man than
he had entered it.
Toward the end of this same year Colonel John
Montgomery was made Governor.
[io3]
The Story of Manhattan
He had been groom of the bedchamber of
George II. when the latter was Prince of Wales.
He was a weak and lazy man, although he had
been bred a soldier. You may believe that he
never did much in the soldiering line, for a sol-
dier's life is a hard one, and not likely to encour-
age a man to be lazy. Montgomery was given
a cordial welcome, however.
The year after he came, the first Jewish cemetery
was established, the remains of which may still be
seen in the neighborhood of Chatham Square in
New Bowery Street. It has not been used as a
graveyard in many a year, and much of the ground
is now occupied by buildings. But there is still a por-
tion, behind a stone wall, and crumbling tombstones
have stood there ever so many years longer than the
dingy tenements which hem them in on three sides.
In the days of Montgomery, New York was
still a small village, for most of the houses were be-
low the present Fulton Street, and they were not at
all thickly built, so there was room enough for pleas-
ant gardens around them.
[104]
Governor Burnet and the French Traders
At this time the vacant space in front of the fort,
which had been used as a parade-ground and a
market-place, was leased to three citizens whose
houses were nearby to be used as a Bowling Green.
Its name came from this and it still keeps it.
A fire department was organized and two engines
were imported and room made for them in the City
Hall. Before this the department had consisted of
a few leather buckets and a few fire-hooks.
In 1 73 1 Governor Montgomery died, and for
thirteen months after, Rip Van Dam, oldest mem-
ber of the council, and a wealthy merchant, looked
after the province until the coming of William
Cosby.
[>oj]
CHAPTER XVI
The Trial o/Zenger,
the Printer
COSBY arrived; a testy, disagreeable man
who loved money above everything else.
The colonists received him with favor,
because they did not know these things about him.
The Assembly granted him a revenue for six years,
and gave him a present of ^75° besides. The
Governor thought this a very small sum and said
so. He presented an order from the King which
said that he was to have half the salary that Rip
Van Dam had received for acting as Governor.
But Van Dam would not part with his money,
and the people sided with him, for they had long
been weary of governors who looked upon the
colony simply as a means to repair their fortunes.
Cosby was determined to get the money, so he
sued Van Dam. This suit was conducted in a
court where there were three judges, and two of
[106]
The Trial of Zenger, the Printer
them were friends of Cosby. One of them was
James De Lancey, a son of that Stephen De
Lancey who had given the clock to the city. The
Dinner at Rip Van Dam's.
Chief-Justice was still Lewis Morris, who had been
appointed by Governor Hunter. So with two
judges, friends of the Governor, he won his suit,
[io7]
The Story of Manhattan
and Van Dam was ordered to pay him half his
salary.
More than this, Chief-Justice Morris, who had
disagreed with the other two judges, was removed
from office, and James De Lancey became Chief-
Justice.
The mass of the people disapproved of these
doings, and there were murmurs of discontent.
But the Governor had his money, and had made
his friend Chief-Justice, and was running matters
pretty much his own way, so he was satisfied.
There was still only one paper, the New York
Gazette, published by William Bradford. As
Bradford was the Government printer, it was quite
natural that he should side with Cosby. But just
at this time another paper came into existence, a
rival to the Gazette, which took up the people's
cause. This was the New York Weekly Journal,
published by Peter Zenger, who had been one of
Bradford's workmen. Each week it was filled with
articles assailing Cosby, and all who were in sympa-
thy with him. Very soon Zenger was arrested,
[108]
The Trial of Zenger, the Printer
charged with publishing libels against the city offi-
cials and the King. He was locked up in one of
the cells in the City Hall.
The friends of Zenger secretly secured the ser-
vices of Andrew Hamilton, a distinguished lawyer
of Philadelphia, who pleaded his cause to good
effect, and showed that Zenger had only spoken as
any man had a right to speak, and had pointed out
wrongs where wrongs existed. Justice De Lancey,
remembering that his friend the Governor had made
him Chief-Justice, told the jury that they must find
Zenger guilty. But the jury pronounced him not
guilty. Thus the freedom of the press was estab-
lished, and the jury, by their verdict, had opposed
the Governor, his council, the Assembly, and the
judge before whom the accused had been tried.
About this time Lord Augustus Fitzroy, young-
est son of the Duke of Grafton, came from Eng-
land to visit Governor Cosby. The Governor
thanked him for having honored New York with
his presence, and told him that the city was open
and invited him to go where he pleased. Lord
[109]
The Story of Manhatta
N
Augustus did not go far. He fell in love with the
Governor's daughter. He did more than fall in
love, for one day he induced a minister to climb
over the fort wall and marry him to her, without
leave or license. The friends of the young noble-
man were shocked, for the Governor's daughter was
considered beneath him in rank. Governor Cosby
was accused of having brought about this unequal
match, although Lord Augustus said that it was the
lady's winning ways and pretty face.
Cosby, after the Zenger trial, did what he could
to check the liberty of the citizens, but was soon
stricken with a fatal illness. On his death-bed he
called together the members of his council, and sus-
pended his old enemy, Rip Van Dam, who would
have been his successor until another Governor
was appointed. And having done this he died,
on March 10, 1736, leaving a quarrelsome state of
affairs behind him.
[MO]
CHAPTER XVII
Concerning the Negro
Plot
THE citizens were so far from being pleased
when they learned that Rip Van Dam
was not to act in the Governor's place,
that, for a time, it looked very much as though
there would be a riot. There was a member of the
Assembly named George Clarke, and when his fel-
low-members chose him for the place that Rip Van
Dam should have had, there was more grumbling.
But as no Governor came from England for seven
years, Clarke looked after the province all that
time. He was an easy-going man, who tried by
every possible means to make friends. There was
one happening in particular by which he is remem-
bered. It was called the Negro Plot.
Slaves had been brought to the city, until now
there were 2,000 of them. The 8,000 citizens
were in constant dread lest the negroes should some
[in]
The Story of Manhattan
day rise up in revolt. Early in the spring of the
year 1741 several fires occurred in different parts
of the city, and the citizens felt quite sure that the
slaves had started them. As the hours passed, the
idea of a plot grew until it seemed a fact. Then a
reward was offered to anyone who would tell of a
conspiracy or of anyone concerned in one.
Just at this time a woman was arrested for a
small theft, and when she heard of the reward, she
all at once remembered that there had been meet-
ings of negroes at a small tavern where she had
worked. She told of a plan to kill every white
person ; to set all the negroes free, and to make
one of them King of the city. The woman who
told this story was Mary Burton. The tavern-
keeper, his wife, and several other negroes were
hanged in short order. Still the fires kept on.
There were dozens within ten days, and among
others the Governor's house in the fort was burned
to the ground.
Mary Burton now began a remarkable series of
confessions which grew wilder with each passing
[in]
Concerning the Negro Plot
day. Negro slaves accused by her were arrested
in numbers. Liberty was promised all who would
speak the truth, and speaking the truth was under-
The Negroes Sentenced.
["3]
The Story of Manhattan
stood to mean giving information of a conspiracy.
Very soon several negroes were burned at the stake
in a little valley beyond the Collect Pond. This
awful death frightened many, who hastened to cry
out that they knew all about the plot. There were
some who saved their lives by confessing things
that were not true ; many more did not.
During the whole long, hot summer the hanging
and burning of negro slaves went on. Late in the
year, when Mary Burton had seen every person she
had accused arrested, she grew more bold. She
sought some new story to tell, and found one in
remembering for the first time that white people
had been connected with the plot. Twenty-four
white citizens had been arrested, when Mary Bur-
ton began to attack prominent townsmen ; even
those who had been foremost in the prosecution of
the negroes. It was only then realized that the
woman's words could not be relied upon. She
was paid the hundred pounds that had been prom-
ised her, and she disappeared, leaving no trace.
Gradually the fury of feeling against the slaves
["4]
Concerning the Negro Plot
died away. Whether there had ever been any real
plot will always remain unanswered.
Certain it is, however, that the witnesses on whose
words arrests were made were all of uncertain and
unreliable character ; that the evidence was contra-
dictory, and that most of it was extorted under pain
of death.
The excitement passed away after a time, and
George Clarke went on talking finely and managing
his own affairs so well that he was growing very rich
indeed when his official life came to a sudden end.
["5]
CHAPTER XVIII
The Tragic Death of
Sir Danvers Osborne
IN this year, 1743, Admiral George Clinton was
sent by King George II. of England to take
the place of George Clarke as Governor.
Then Clarke packed up his riches and went to
England and enjoyed the rest of his life far from
the little colony that he had governed so much to
his own profit.
Admiral Clinton was the son of an English earl.
When he had been Governor not yet a year, there
came a man whose influence was soon felt. He was
Commodore Peter Warren, of the British Navy,
who in later years became an admiral. Before he had
been in New York long, he married Susannah De
Lancey, a sister of the Chief-Justice. They went
to live in a new house in the country, in the district
which was then and is now known as Greenwich.
England was again at war with France at this
[1,6]
Tragic Death of Sir Danvers Osborne
time. There were tribes of Indians who sided with
the French, and there were other tribes who sided
with the English, and the result was a series of
bloody border wars. Two years after the coming
of Governor Clinton, New York, with the other
English colonies, gathered troops to attack the
French, and a great force was sent against a city
called Louisburg. This city was on Cape Breton
Island, which is close by the coast of Nova Scotia
and was a fortress of such great strength, that it was
called the Gibraltar of America. Commodore War-
ren led the English fleet, and the combined forces
by sea and land captured the fortress.
You will remember James De Lancey, who was
still Chief-Justice. He was very rich, and as he
showed at all times that he considered the interests
of the citizens above all things, they naturally
thought a great deal of him. For a time he acted
as adviser to Governor Clinton, but the two had a
falling out.
For the ten years that Clinton remained Governor
he had great trouble with the people, who sided with
[i>7]
The Story of Manhatta
n
De Lancey. At the end of that time Governor
Clinton, finding that his power grew less and less,
and that De Lancey became more and more popu-
lar, resigned his office. A few months went by, and
then came Sir Danvers Osborne to be Governor.
On the third day after reaching the city he walked
out of the fort at the head of the other officials, with
Clinton by his side, to go to the City Hall, where
he was to take the oath of office. The people, all
gathered in the streets, shouted when they saw the
new Governor. But at the sight of Clinton, whom
they hated, they hissed and shook their fists and
yelled, until Clinton became alarmed and hurried
back to the fort, leaving the new Governor to go
on without him. And Sir Danvers Osborne was
much surprised and a little frightened.
" I expect," said he to Clinton that same day, " I
expect the same treatment before I leave the prov-
ince.
For all the shaking fists and for all the angry
shouts, the new Governor was well entertained that
day. The church-bells rang, cannon boomed, and
[n8]
Tragic Death of Sir Danvers Osborne
at night the town was illuminated. But the citizens
did not do this so much for the new Governor as
they did for De Lancey, who had now been made
Lieutenant-Governor.
Two days after Sir Danvers took the oath of
office he called his council before him and told
them that the King had said he was to have the per-
manent revenue about which there had been so
much trouble with the other governors. And the
council members told him, as they had told others,
that this command would never be obeyed. On
hearing this Sir Danvers became sad and gloomy.
He covered his face with his hands.
" Then what am I come here for ? ' he cried.
The very next morning there was an uproar in the
city. The Governor had been found dead, hang-
ing from the garden-wall of his house. Then the
people learned that his mind had been unsettled for
a long time, and that he had accepted the governor-
ship hoping to be cured by a change of scene. But
the knowledge that his rule would be one of con-
stant struggling to gain his ends had doubtless
l"9J
The Story of Manhattan
proven too much for his wrecked brain. So he
killed himself, and the government of New York
was left in the hands of James De Lancey, and you
will see how he still further won the hearts of those
around him.
[120]
CHAPTER XIX
The Beginning of
Discontent
TWO years James De Lancey acted as Gov-
ernor, and the citizens were really sorry
when Admiral Sir Charles Hardy was
sent to take his place.
Sir Charles was not slow to see and to admit
that while he was a good sailor, he did not make a
good Governor, so after a year he resigned, and the
province was once more left to the care of De
Lancey.
At this time there was much being said about the
need for schools, and for many years plans had
been under way for building a college in the city.
Money had been raised by means of lotteries —
which were popular and lawful then — and finally
the college was established. It was called King's
College. It is still in existence, but is now Colum-
bia University. A tablet at West Broadway and
The Story of Manhattan
Murray Street tells that the college once stood
close by.
It was near this time that William Walton, a
very rich merchant, built the finest house that the
city had yet known. This was in Queen Street,
not a great way from the Stadt Huys, and the fur-
niture and fittings were in keeping with the ele-
gance of the exterior. It was so fine that the fame
of it spread to England, where it was spoken of
as a proof that the colonists were very, very rich
indeed. This house stood for 129 years. When
it was torn down it had become a tenement that
showed scarcely a trace of its early grandeur.
Queen Street is now Pearl Street and the building
numbered 326 is on the site of the famous old
house.
There was another war with the French now, and
four expeditions were sent out against them. On
one of these a young officer with the troops from
Virginia distinguished himself. He was cool and
daring in the midst of battle. The soldiers, who
were themselves fearless fighters, strove to be as
[122J
The Beginning of Discontent
brave as he. This officer was only twenty-three
years old, and his name was George Washington.
He had a glorious career before him.
There came from England in the year following
this a burly, blustering man, who had been ap-
pointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in
America. This Lord Loudoun very soon proved
to everybody's satisfaction except his own that he
was not fit to be a commander. The people of
New York detested him heartily, and were glad
when after three years he was recalled because he
was not successful in the war against the French.
The new commander-in-chief did better. He was
General Jeffrey Amherst, and under him the English
were gradually successful. Town after town held
by the French fell, until the capture of Montreal,
in 1760, secured to the English the conquest of
Canada, and so ended a conflict which had for many
years drained the energies of the colonists.
Soon after this Lieutenant-Governor James De
Lancey was found dead in his library-chair at his
country home (now a closely built-up part of the
lI23]
The Story of Manhattan
city at Delancey Street, near the Bowery). In a
few days his body was taken from there, followed
by a great concourse of people, and buried under
Trinity Church, 1760.
the centre aisle of Trinity Church. Up to the
last day of his life De Lancev remained much
beloved.
[I24]
The Beginning of Discontent
The death of De Lancey left the care of the
colony to Cadwallader Colden, whom you will re-
member as the friend of Governor Hunter. He
had been so long concerned in public affairs that he
knew how to please. Before the year was ended
England's King, George II., died. When the news
reached New York, the city was draped with
mourning. But in another week all signs of sad-
ness had disappeared in honor of the new King,
George III.
Then General Robert Monckton, who had been
in command of the English forces on Staten Island,
was made Governor. He was a young man, some-
what careless, but, as was the case with all the new
governors, he was welcomed with glad shouts of
approval.
England at this time needed men in her navy,
and the captains of war-ships were in the habit of
boarding any vessel that sailed from the colonies in
America and taking sailors by force to serve on the
English ships. This increased a bitter feeling that
the colonists were beginning to have against Eng-
["5]
The Story of Manhattan
land. The city had now 14,000 inhabitants and
was in quite a flourishing condition.
After two years Monckton tired of the cares of
government, and sailed away to England, with
never a thought of the wild scenes that were to take
place in the land he left behind.
[,26]
CHAPTER XX
The Story of the Stamp
Act
THE colonists were becoming more and
more dissatisfied, not only in New York,
but in all of the thirteen English colonies
in America. For they strongly objected to the way
in which money was being taken from them in the
form of taxes. The English had spent much
money in the wars which led up to the conquest
of Canada, and thought that it should be returned
to them. So they taxed the colonists in every
possible way. Protest was made against these taxes,
but in vain. Matters became worse and worse.
After two years, when it had come to be the year
1765, the British Parliament passed what was called
the Stamp Act. This compelled the people to buy
stamps and put them on every sort of legal paper.
No one could be married, no newspaper could be
printed, nothing could be bought, nothing could be
[127]
The Story of Manhattan
sold, no business of any sort could be carried on
without these stamps. No one could evade the
use of them, and in this way all would have to
contribute directly to the King.
More than any other form of tax, more than any-
thing the British Government had done, the people
opposed this Stamp Act. The colonists had no
one to represent them in the British Parliament,
no one to present their side, no one to plead for
them and tell what a drain this tax was, so they
declared that they would not use a single stamp,
unless they were allowed to have someone to repre-
sent them ; and they set up the cry, " No Taxation
Without Representation."
Very soon a company of men called the Sons of
Liberty began to be heard of throughout all the
thirteen colonies. They were foremost in opposing
the Stamp Act. In many towns they held meet-
ings, and it was not long before the people were
aroused from one end of the country to the other.
Not many months had passed before men were
sent from each of the colonies and met in the City
[lift]
The Story of the Stamp Act
Hall at New York. This meeting was called a
Colonial Congress. For three weeks these men
conferred, and during that time decided that in good
truth the Stamp Act was unjust, and that every-
thing in their power should be done to prevent it.
Coffee- House opposite Bowli/ig Greet:, Head-Quarters of the
Sous of Liberty.
In this same year the house which Stephen De
Lancey had built close by Trinity Church, and which
James De Lancey had lived in until his death, had
become a hotel. It was called Burns's Coffee-
[129]
The Story of Manhattan
House. It was a solid structure, with high beams,
great fireplaces, and wide halls. If you go now to
look for the spot where it stood, you will find a
crowded business section ; but in those days there
were open spaces all about, and a handsome lawn
swept away to the river. One October night the
merchants of the city gathered in this coffee-house,
and here, late at night, they signed a paper which
bound them one and all to buy no goods from
England so long as the English King should com-
pel them to use the stamps. By this agreement
people could, of course, only wear clothing that was
made in the colonies, and even the wealthy refused
to buy silk and broadcloth that were sent from
England. Tea and coffee, being imports, were not
drunk, and in their place were used preparations
made from fragrant wild herbs of the American
soil.
The merchants who had assembled in the coffee-
house were called the Non- Importation Association,
branches of which spread throughout all the colonies.
The paper they signed was the non-importation
[T3°]
The Story of the Stamp Act
agreement. Next day, which was the first on
which the stamps were to be distributed, the city
seemed to sleep. The shops were closed and the
citizens remained indoors. The flags were hung at
half-mast and the bells tolled dismally.
But at night the silence changed to noise. The
citizens gathered in numbers. They broke into the
stable of Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden
and dragged out his coach of state. In it they put
a figure made of sticks and rags to represent the
owner. They marched the streets, shouting as
they went, and finally surrounded the fort. The
soldiers were drawn up on the ramparts with cannon
and gun directed toward the Bowling Green. But
no shots were fired. The rioters being denied ad-
mission to the fort, into which they were anxious to
get because the stamps were stored there, tore down
the wooden railing around the Bowling Green, and,
kindling a huge fire, burned the coach and the figure
in it.
As the flames blazed high, the fury of the mob
increased. They rushed away toward Vauxhall on
[131]
The Story of Manhattan
the outskirts of the town (where Greenwich and
Warren Streets now cross). Vauxhall at this time
was occupied by a major of the British army named
James. He had said that the stamps ought to be
crammed down the throats of the people with the
point of a sword. In revenge for this his house
was broken into, his handsome furniture, his pict-
ures and treasures of every sort dragged out, and
kindled into a bonfire around which the mob
danced and howled.
The people were quite determined to take the law
into their own hands and destroy every trace of the
hated stamps. You shall know presently what pre-
vented them.
\^A
CHAPTER XXI
The Beginning of
Revolution
ON the morning after the night of rioting —
a dark and dreary day that was quite in
keeping with the gloomy feelings of the
people — Cadwallader Colden, the Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor, decided that he would do away with the
stamps that had caused so much trouble. So he
had them delivered to the Mayor, who was in ac-
cord with the citizens, and the Mayor put them
in the City Hall amid many cheers. A few days
after this Sir Henry Moore (who had been ap-
pointed Governor of the province) arrived from
England, and immediately won the hearts of the
citizens by saying that he would have nothing to
do with the stamps. During the next few months
excitement in New York and in the other colonies
increased, and efforts to keep the stamps in use
caused riots everywhere.
1*33]
The Story of Manhattan
When the King saw that he could not enforce
the Stamp Act, and that serious trouble was likely
to occur from every attempt to do so, he repealed
the act, the year after it had become a law.
The people were overjoyed at this.
The King's birthday coming soon after, there was
in his honor a great celebration, and a liberty pole
was planted on the Common, which in after years
played an important part in the history of New
York ; and a marble statue of William Pitt, Earl
of Chatham, was erected. This William Pitt had
done more than any other man in England to
secure the repeal of the Stamp Act, and had time
aiad time again spoken strongly against it. His
statue was set up in Wall Street, and at the same
time a statue of King George III., seated upon a
horse, was erected on the Bowling Green. It fared
ill with these statues later, as you will see.
There was no longer a stamp act, but there was
another act quite as disagreeable. It was called
the Mutiny Bill, and it required that food and
drink and sleeping - quarters be given to all the
[■34]
The Beginning of Revolution
British soldiers. Now the Mutiny Bill fell hardest
upon New York, for New York was the head-quar-
ters of the British army in America. The people
refused to comply with this law, because they
feared that it was the first step toward compelling
them to support a great army in America.
So the soldiers and citizens were again continu-
ally at odds.
Four years after the Stamp Act was repealed,
during which time affairs were in a most unsettled
state and the bitter feeling between the colonists and
England was growing stronger with each passing
day, the English Parliament declared that no tax
was to be put on anything except tea. Tea was to
be taxed, not so much for the money that would
thus go to the King, but to show that he had the
right to tax the colonists. This did not settle mat-
ters in the least. The colonists had sworn to resist
all taxes, and to have a tax on one article was as
bad, to their minds, as having taxes on all. But
the merchants were not prospering, for, not import-
ing goods from England, they had none to sell. So
[•35]
The Story of Manhattan
a committee of 100 men was appointed to see what
could be done. This committee decided that it
would be right for the merchants to import every-
thing they needed except tea. And the merchants
welcomed this decision and agreed to it.
But the fiery Sons of Liberty refused to listen to
any such compromise. They insisted on keeping
the non-importation agreement until the duty on
tea, as well as all other duties, should be done
away with once and for all. So they determined to
maintain it until the end, and they did maintain it
well. Day by day the soldiers of King George
III. and the citizens became greater enemies.
Although the soldiers tried many times to drag
down the liberty pole, it was well defended, and it
stood until one night in January, 1770, when they
tore it down and chopped it into pieces. This act
led to the battle of Golden Hill, which was the
first real battle of the American Revolution.
C'.tf]
CHAPTER XXI I
Fighting the Tax on
Tea
ABIT of rising ground, not a great way from
the Common, was called Golden Hill.
Here there was an inn. To this day the
elevation of ground can be seen (where John Street
crosses William), and the inn still stands. While
the thought of the wrecked liberty pole was still
fresh in mind, some of the Sons of Liberty came
suddenly upon a number of soldiers close by this
inn. There was a running fight, the soldiers using
their guns and cutlasses and the others beating
them back with staves and sticks. More soldiers
came and the fight grew in fury. Already one man
had received his death-blow and a dozen had been
injured, when several officers came galloping up
the road and the soldiers were ordered back to
their barracks. This was the battle of Golden
Hill.
[x37j
The Story of Manhattan
Very often after this the soldiers and the citizens
clashed and sometimes came to blows, and progress
was at a standstill because of the turbulence of the
times. Public improvements were neglected and
very little business was carried on.
In the third year after the battle of Golden Hill,
the British Government decided to make the colo-
nists buy tea whether they wanted to or not. So
the price was put down until tea could be bought
in New York cheaper than it could be bought
in England. This did no good, for though the
tea was cheap the tax was on it and it was the
tax and not the price of which the people com-
plained. The Sons of Liberty, when they heard
that ships loaded with cheap tea were on the way
from England, said they would not even permit it
to be landed. The first ship in port was under the
command of a captain named Lockyer, who, when
he learned of the strong efforts made to prevent the
landing of the tea, determined to return to England
with his cargo. He anchored his ship in the bay
and came in a small boat to the city. The people,
[138]
Fighting the Tax on Tea
joyful over his decision, decided to give him a
public leave-taking.
Within a few days another ship sailed into the
bay, commanded by Captain Chambers, who in-
sisted that he had no tea on board. When told
that his vessel would be searched, he admitted that
he had a few chests. That same night the citizens
who had all day thronged the wharf, suddenly
swarmed aboard the vessel. The hatches were
ripped up, and the eighteen chests of tea hauled on
deck. There they were torn into pieces and the
contents scattered into the river. Having done this
the crowds dispersed and all was quiet again.
Next day came the public leave-taking of Cap-
tain Lockyer. He had spent the night at the
coffee-house in Wall Street, and here, early in the
morning, there was a great assembly. The bells
of the city chimed merrily ; flags floated from the
houses, and the ships in the bay were decorated with
gay colors.
From the balcony of the coffee-house the Cap-
tain bowed while the crowds cheered him. Fi-
1*39]
The Story of Manhattan
nally a committee escorted him to the foot of
Wall Street, where he embarked in a pilot-boat
which took him to his ship. Another committee,
Ferry- House on East River, 1 7 46, from an Old Print.
with far less ceremony, escorted Captain Cham-
bers to the same boat, and the two captains sailed
away.
Even before this had happened in New York,
the citizens of Boston had dumped a cargo of tea
[140]
Fighting the Tax on Tea
into their harbor, and the British Parliament had
closed the port of Boston ; which meant that no
ships were permitted to sail in or out of it. By
this it was hoped to stop all business in Boston,
and really it did put an end to a great part of it.
And General Thomas Gage, who now had charge
of the British troops in America, undertook to
see that the orders of the King were properly en-
forced.
This closing of the port of Boston aroused the
thirteen British colonies in America. After a great
deal of letter-writing it was decided to have men
from each of these colonies meet and talk matters
over. In September of this year (1774) they met
in Philadelphia. At this meeting, which was called
the First Continental Congress, it was decided that
laws were made in England that were unjust to
America, that the colonists objected to taxes that
were fixed by Parliament and would buy no more
goods from England while a tax was upon them ;
and that they objected to the support of a large
British army in the colonies.
[Hi]
The Story of Manhattan
And this First Continental Congress sent a peti-
tion to King George III., saying that the unjust
laws should be done away with.
How the King received this petition is soon
told.
[142]
CHAPTER XXIII
The Sons of Liberty at
Turtle Bay
NOW in New York almost everybody was
anxious to carry out the decision of this
First Continental Congress.
But the Assembly said that the Congress had
not been a lawful gathering and must not be
obeyed. The colonists replied that they would do
as they thought best, no matter what the King's
Assembly ordered.
You must know that some of the people sup-
ported the royal cause and were called Royalists or
Tories. The others were called Patriots or Whigs.
The English called the patriots rebels.
It had now come to be the year 1775, and mat-
ters in Boston where the port had been closed were
growing worse and worse. In the month of April
some British soldiers passing through Lexington
shot down a number of patriots. Messengers on
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The Story of Manhattan
horseback sped through the colonies carrying news
of this massacre. It was the first serious encounter
of the Revolution and the colonists realized that
they were now at war with the British. Men rushed
to arms. Farmers left their homes. Professional
men hurried from the towns. Within a few days
an army surrounded Boston and penned in the
British troops there.
When the messenger reached New York with
the news of the Lexington massacre, a Provisional
Assembly was formed which was to look after the
city without regard to the Assembly which already
existed. And this is the way it came about that
there was a king's government and a people's
government. Shops were closed and armed citi-
zens paraded the streets. Matters went on in this
fashion for a month, when a Second Continental
Congress met at Philadelphia.
As it was now seen that there was to be a serious
conflict with Great Britain, the army gathered about
Boston was adopted as the beginning of the forces
to be assembled and was termed the Continental
[M4]
The Sons of Liberty at Turtle Bay
Army, and George Washington was appointed
commander-in-chief.
Knowing that they would soon need guns and
powder, the Sons of Liberty seized those held by
the royal troops in New York. There was quite a
East River Shore, l/JO, from an Old Print.
quantity in a storehouse at Turtle Bay, a quiet
little cove three miles above the town, that curved
into a wild and rocky part of the East River shore.
Nowadays the city extends for miles and miles
above it. If you go to Forty-ninth Street and the
['45]
The Story of Manhattan
East River you will see all that remains of it. Al-
though the houses are built thick about it, there is
still an air of seclusion. Everywhere else along
the shore are piers and bath-houses and wharves
and ships and shipping.
So at this Turtle Bay, far from the town, the
royal troops had a storehouse for their arms. A
small band of the Sons of Liberty, one dark night,
floated down the river, guided their vessel into the
bay, overpowered the guards before they were fairly
aroused, and loaded their boat with the enemy's
powder and guns. Then they made off, and be-
fore the morning dawned had placed the stores safe
in the hands of the patriots.
Then the War of the Revolution broke in full
fury.
[i46]
CHAPTER XXIV
The War of the Revo
lution
IN this month of June, in the year 1775, there
were quite a number of British soldiers in the
city, and many of the patriots believed that
they should be made prisoners. But the Provi-
sional Assembly decreed that the orders of the Sec-
ond Continental Congress must be obeyed. And
these orders were not to molest the soldiers as
long as they did not try to build fortifications or
remove powder and guns from the city.
But early in this month of June it was learned
that the soldiers were about to go to Boston.
More than that, it was known that there was a
secret order under which they were to take guns
and powder with them.
The Sons of Liberty were hastily called to a
meeting. One of them, Marinus Willett, was
hurrying through Broad Street toward the Coffee-
[147]
The Story of Manhattan
House where the meeting was to be held, when he
came upon the soldiers moving silently along with
five carts loaded with chests of arms. Alone, and
without an instant's hesitation, Willett clutched at
the bridle of the first horse. The company stopped.
There was an angry parley, the officers claim-
ing the right to leave the city with the arms, and
making an erTort to do so without raising a general
alarm. But friends of Willett came to his assist-
ance. The five carts were driven away by the
patriots and the soldiers went on but without the
arms. Long years afterward a bronze tablet was
placed on a house in Broad Street close by Beaver
(and is there now), to mark the spot where the
brave Willett stopped the ammunition wagons.
In this same month a battle was fought between
the British army in Boston and the Continental
army which was encamped outside of Boston. It
was fought on a bit of high ground near the city,
and was called the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Just at this time word came that General George
Washington, the newly appointed commander-in-
[«4«] .
The War of the Revolution
chief, was on his way from Philadelphia to the Con-
tinental army, and would pass through New York
City. Washington with his aides and a company
of soldiers were hurrying across New Jersey on
horseback, and when they reached the city they
were met by a committee from the Provisional
Assembly, with a number of patriot soldiers.
The next morning Washington set out for Bos-
ton. He had not yet left the town when a ship
appeared in the bay having on board Governor
William Tryon, who had been visiting in England
for nearly a year. Governor Tryon did not remain
long in the city though, as it was not a comfortable
place for a royal Governor just then. He hurriedly
left one night and went aboard one of the British
ships in the bay.
At the close of this year Washington was still
before Boston with the Continental army. An-
other section of the army was in the North, fighting
against the British in Canada. This last branch
was encamped about the walls of Quebec in the last
month of the year. It was under the command of
[149]
The Story of Manhattan
General Richard Montgomery, of New York, a
brilliant soldier who had fought in the French and
Indian wars. Quebec was stormed, but was too
strong to be taken. Montgomery fell crying,
" Men of New York, you will not fear to follow
where your general leads." He was buried with
military honors in Quebec, for the British honored
him as a brave man. Forty-three years later his
remains were removed to New York, and placed
beneath the portico of St. Paul's Chapel, where his
tomb may now be seen.
Fighting by the side of Montgomery when he
fell was a youth who was singled out for his brav-
ery. His name was Aaron Burr. You are to hear
more of him, for many and many a time in after
years the eyes of the entire country were turned
upon him.
[15°]
CHAPTER XXV
A Battle on Long
Island
AND now, early in the next spring, George
Washington came again to New York,
having at last forced the British troops
from Boston. The city, which was under the con-
trol of the patriots, was in a state of excitement, as
it seemed probable that this was to be the next
point of attack. Every person who favored the
cause of the King, or who was suspected of favoring
it, was looked upon with distrust. One-third of
the citizens had fled. The soldiers of the Conti-
nental army were arriving daily. Women and chil-
dren were rarely seen upon the streets. Many of
the royalists' houses, which had been closed when
their owners fled, were broken open to give sleeping
quarters to the soldiers.
At the outbreak of the war the people's grievance
had been simply taxation without representation,
[>5'J
The Story of Manhattan
but by this time the desire for complete independ-
ence had taken fast hold of them. This feeling
swept through the colonies, and when the Con-
tinental Congress met in June of this year, it voted
that the united colonies should be free and inde-
pendent States and have no further political connec-
tion with Great Britain. A declaration of independ-
ence was adopted on July 4th, and the British
colonies became the United States of America.
A horseman brought the news to New York, and
there was great rejoicing. The soldiers of the new
Union then in the city were ordered to the Com-
mon, and there, early in the evening, standing in a
hollow square — close by where the City Hall is
now — and surrounded by a great concourse of peo-
ple, Washington read the address that proclaimed
the birth of a free and independent nation.
Following the reading the great throng applauded
and then, filled with enthusiasm, rushed away. At
the City Hall in Wall Street they tore down the
painting of King George III. and trampled it under
foot. On again they went to the Bowling Green,
[>5»]
A Battle on Long Island
and there they dragged down the statue of the same
royal person which had been erected only a few
years before. The scattered fragments of the
leaden statue were afterward gathered up and
moulded into bullets.
This same month General William Howe, com-
mander of the British army, had landed on Staten
Island, with his brother, Admiral Howe of the
British navy, and with the soldiers and sailors of
their commands, made up a fine, well-drilled army
of 35,000 men, who had come to fight a force of
20,000 recruits ; men not at all well-versed in war,
and nearly half of whom were ill and not able to be
on duty.
But Washington calmly watched the British on
Staten Island, and the British ships, more than
400 of them, in the bay, and was not at all dis-
mayed. Once General Howe wrote to Washington
suggesting measures that would lead to peace, but
nothing came of it.
Late in the month of August the fighting com-
menced. General Howe led his forces to Long
['53]
The Story of Manhattan
Island — led 21,000 men, for he thought that the
best way to capture New York was to first vanquish
the army on Long Island by an overwhelming
force. Then the subduing of the city across the
river would be easy.
Washington hurried what men he could across
to Long Island to assist those already there. But
even then the Americans were outnumbered as two
to one. The patriots fought long and well, but
they were defeated. Two hundred or more were
killed, and three times as many, including three
generals, were made prisoners. But more than 300
of the British were also killed.
The day after the battle, the American army was
in Brooklyn, penned in on the land side by the
British troops and on the other by the wide, swift-
running river. It was raining in torrents. Wash-
ington was there. He planned a retreat that was
to save his army. All the boats to be found along
the shores of the Island of Manhattan were taken
to Brooklyn in the dead of night. Silently the
soldiers were put aboard, so silently that, although
[■54]
A Battle oh Long Island
the British were almost within speaking distance, no
sound of the departing army reached them. The
point where they embarked was close by where the
East River Bridge now touches the Brooklyn shore.
It was daylight before the last of the troops got
aboard, but a heavy fog shielded them as well as
had the darkness.
When the sun swept the fog away, General Howe
gazed in wonder at the spot where the American
forces had been the night before. But they were
gone, with the swiftness and silence of magic !
The magician was Washington, who had not slept
from the hour of defeat until his men were safe
again in New York. But they were not to remain
there long, as more exciting work was before them.
[>S5l
CHAPTER XXVI
The British Occupy
New York
MILES and miles above the little city of
New York, on a road which led up
through the Island of Manhattan, there
was a stately house in a stretch of country and
forest land overlooking the Hudson River. This
was the house of Charles Ward Apthorpe and
was known as the Apthorpe mansion. Here Gen-
eral Washington went after the retreat from Long
Island, to devise a plan for the battles that were to
come.
The city was well fortified, but Washington
understood full well that it could not be held long
against a British attack. For the British soldiers
were already on the islands of the East River, and
the British ships held possession of the harbor and
of both rivers. So Washington sent the main body
of his army to Harlem Heights at the northern end
[156J
The British Occupy New York
of the Island of Manhattan, and left only a force
of 4,000 men, under General Putnam, in New
York.
Washington desiring to learn the plans of the
enemy, called for someone who would be willing to
go into the British lines. This was a dangerous
undertaking, for capture meant certain death. But
there was a young officer who was anxious to un-
dertake the mission, and the arrangements were
made. This was Nathan Hale. In disguise he
made his way, learned the number of the enemy,
and learned, too, all about the plan of attack.
With this information he was hurrying back to
General Washington, when he was recognized as
belonging to the American army, and was arrested.
In a few days, when he was tried, he freely admitted
that he had acted as Washington's spy. He died
as he had lived — bravely. A moment before he
was hanged he was asked if he wished to say any
word. " Yes,'"' he answered ; and looking firmly
into the faces of those who stood about him, " I
only regret that I have but one life to lose for my
[■57]
The Story of Manhattan
country." No wonder that the memory of the
Martyr Spy has lived through the passing years !
Sixteen days after Washington and his men re-
treated from Long Island, the British sailed up the
East River and anchored opposite a little inlet
called Kip's Bay (at the foot of what is now Thirty-
sixth Street). They fired upon those who defended
the bay, and under cover of this fire landed ; and
the American soldiers scurried away up the island
toward the north.
General Howe led his men on for half a mile,
until they reached a large country house. This was
the home, and all about it was the farm, of a family
named Murray (who gave their name to Murray
Hill). These Murrays were friendly to the patriots,
but they were also well acquainted with Governor
Tryon, who was with the British army. So the
army rested close by the house, and Howe, Tryon,
and the other officers were given a fine dinner by
Mrs. Murray.
Now although the Americans had retreated north
up the island from Kip's Bay, and were safely on
[158]
Mrs. Murray's Dinner to British Officers.
The British Occupy New York
their way to the main army on Harlem Heights,
you must remember there were 4,000 soldiers still
in the city. So the British were in the centre of
the island with a very large force ; the main body
of the Americans was to the north ; while to the
south was this little band of 4,000, far away from
their army and in a position to be trapped by the
British. Had the British officers at once decided
to stretch their men across the island, the 4,000
would have been penned up on the lower part and
would have been made prisoners. It therefore
seemed to Putnam's men that there was but one
way for them to escape capture, and that was by
slipping past the British who rested at Murray
house and joining the main army on Harlem
Heights.
The Murrays understood the condition of af-
fairs, so they were particularly cordial to their
British guests and detained them as long as they
could at dinner. They were still feasting when
General Putnam started his 4,000 men marching
toward the north.
[16.]
The Story of Manhattan
He galloped far in advance, for the country was
rough and his soldiers could walk but slowly. He
galloped north, and Washington, hanging to the
rear of the retreating troops from Kip's Bay, the
Hozve"1 s Head-Quarters, Beekman House.
generals met where two roads crossed, close by
where Broadway now crosses Forty-third Street.
Washington instructed Putnam to hurry his 4,000
on before they were irretrievably cut off from the
main army. They did hurry on. They drew near
[162]
The British Occupy New York
the Murray house ; they formed a line two miles
long that moved silently over the road that led
them to within half a mile of where the British
soldiers were feasting. The line passed this point.
Scarcely had the last man gone by when the British
were on the move, half an hour too late for the
capture of 4,000 prisoners.
Now the American forces were all together in
a solid mass, moving toward the upper end of the
island ; plodding through pouring rain, almost
dropping from the exhaustion of their long march —
but safe.
This same night a division of the British soldiers
occupied New York. " The others, close on the
heels of the American army, waited for the morn-
ing.
[163]
CHAPTER XXVII
The Battle of Harlem
Heights
WHEN the sun rose next morning (it was
September 1 6th), the American army
and the British army lay encamped each
on a highland close beside one another separated
by a valley.
The ground occupied by the British soldiers was
then Vandewater Heights. Much of this high
ground still remains and is now called Columbia
Heights, and Columbia University and Grant's
Tomb are upon it. The American forces were
scattered over what was then Harlem Heights, as
far as Washington's head-quarters in the country
mansion overlooking the Harlem River above
Harlem Plains. It was the house of Roger Morris,
a royalist who had fled at the approach of the
American soldiers, and it still stands at 160th Street
close by St. Nicholas Avenue. On the heights and
[164]
2D
^
St
S5
g
^
si
CO
S
s;
V
>
Uuistll it btrutli.
The Story of Manhattan
in the valley a battle was fought, beginning with a
light engagement quite early in the day, with more
and more men of both armies gradually joining in
until there were 5,000 Americans against 6,000
British, with several thousand of each side held in
reserve.
The battle ended in the afternoon with the de-
feat of the British, who lost 200 of their number.
This was a great victory for the Americans, who
fought against superior numbers — great because the
men had lost heart after the defeat on Long Island,
and the forced retreat from the city. There was
sorrow for the dead, for even victories have a sad
side. Every one of the 100 American soldiers
who were killed that day were brave men, and though
all their names are not written in history, the manner
of their death urged on their companions in the days
that followed.
[.66]
CHAPTER XXVIII
The British Fail to
Sweep Everything
Before Them
ON the fourth day after the battle of Harlem
Heights the soldiers of England were
making themselves comfortable in New
York when a great fire broke out. It swept over
the city and 500 houses crumbled and fell in ashes
before it was controlled. Almost the entire western
part of the city was consumed, St. Paul's Chapel be-
ing the only building of importance that was saved.
Almost all who favored the American cause had
fled. But a few remained, and there was a hint
that these had started the fire. The British soldiers
were angered when they saw the city they had just
entered burning, and while the flames roared and
the houses fell they rushed about and in their rage
dashed out the brains of the citizens who sought to
['67]
The Story of Manhattan
beat back the flames from their homes. But it was
afterward learned that the fire had started in quite
an accidental manner.
A little while after this General Howe moved
with the greater part of the British army up the
East River, and sailing on past the Island of Man-
hattan, landed on the mainland beyond in West-
chester. In this way the British were in the rear of
the Americans, and within a few days the two
armies coming together a battle was fought, in
which the Americans were defeated. Washington
and his men then retreated into New Jersey.
General Howe next attacked Fort Washington,
a high and rocky point on the banks of the Hud-
son River (on a line with the present 178th Street).
There were 3,000 men here, all the American sol-
diers who were now on the island, and they held
such a high and well-fortified position that they
thought themselves quite safe. They doubtless
would have been had not one of their number,
William Demont, turned traitor. He told the
British just how many men there were, and just
[168]
^
^
The Story of Manhattan
how the fortress should be attacked. And the
British stormed the fort as the traitor directed, and
took it, and every one of the soldiers who had not
been killed was made prisoner. This ended the
actual fight for liberty in New York.
But outside of New York the war went bravely
on. Washington in New Jersey kept up the fight,
but the winter came on and his army suffered ex-
ceedingly. It had come to be a very small army
by this time, for they were poorly fed and ill
clothed and seldom had any sort of shelter. Nev-
ertheless, Washington gained many victories in
New Jersey and manoeuvred his little army so
well that the whole world, hearing of his achieve-
ments, was forced to recognize him as a great gen-
eral.
New York was the head-quarters of the British
army in America, and the residence of its chief
officers. The city was as thoroughly British as it
had before been American, and it was as much as
life was worth even to hint of an interest in the
American cause.
[170]
The British Failure
Early in the next year, 1777, those who had the
making of the laws for the new State of New York,
met in secret, and chose George Clinton as their
first Governor. The other colonies had formed
themselves into States, and the new nation grew
stronger day by day.
Commissioners were sent to the European courts
to ask aid for the United States. Many young
French noblemen, thrilled at the idea of fighting for
liberty, came to America as volunteers, and by their
knowledge of war gave valuable assistance to the
American officers. The name of the Marquis de
Lafayette stands out prominently as the chief of
these volunteers. He was not yet twenty years
old, but fitted out a vessel at his own expense and
crossed the ocean to offer his services. He asked
to be enlisted as a volunteer and to serve without
pay, but he was soon appointed a major-general.
When it had come to be July of this year, there
was some fighting in the North, for the British
General Burgoyne came down from Canada. He
intended to meet the army under Howe which
[171]
The Story of Manhattan
was marching northward, and the two armies
were to sweep everything before them. Burgoyne
defeated the Americans led by General Philip
Schuyler, in several battles. Just at this time Gen-
eral Schuyler's command was given to General
Gates. Now Gates followed the plans that had
been made by Schuyler, with the result that Bur-
goyne and his entire force of 6,000 men surren-
dered at Saratoga. This settled one branch of the
British army. The other branch, under General
Howe, took possession of Philadelphia, but the
defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga put an end to their
hopes of sweeping everything before them.
In the last month of the year, Washington and
his army took up winter quarters at Valley Forge
so as to keep a close watch upon the British in
Philadelphia.
[!7*]
CHAPTER XXIX
New York a Prison
House
THE winter passed, and when the spring
came the British army moved from Phila-
delphia to New York City, but not with-
out great trouble, for Washington's army fought
them every step of the way across New Jersey.
The city was now quite different from the flour-
ishing town it had been before the war. Held pos-
session of by the British, it was a military camp.
No improvements were made. Many of the citi-
zens who were loyal to the American cause had
fled. Those who were too poor to leave pretended
to favor the British, but as little business could be
done, they could find no work, and their condition
became worse daily. Thousands of American
prisoners were brought here, making it a British
prison-house, and every building of any size was a
guard-house, every cellar a dungeon.
[173]
The Story of Manhattan
One of the gloomiest of these prisons was an
old sugar -house close by the Middle Dutch
Church. It was built in the days of Jacob Leisler,
with thick stone walls five stories high, pierced with
small windows. The ceilings were so low and the
=i=s ■t»iWiit-o>5>»>T *
Old Sugar- House in Liberty Street, the Priso/i-House of the
Revolution.
windows so small that the air could scarcely find
entrance. Underneath was a black and dismal cel-
lar. The pale and shrunken faces of prisoners
filled the openings at the windows by day and by
night, seeking a breath of air. They were so
[174]
New York a Prison-House
jammed together that there was by no means room
at the windows for all. So these wretched men
divided themselves into groups, each group crowd-
ing close to the windows for ten minutes, then giv-
ing place to another group. They slept on straw
that was never changed, and the food given them
was scarcely enough to keep them alive. Those
who suffered this living death might have been free
at any time had they been willing to go over to the
British, but few of the patriots, even in this dread
hour, deserted their cause. To while away the
hours of their captivity, they carved their names
upon the walls with rusty nails. Fevers raged con-
stantly and they died by scores, leaving their half-
finished initials on the walls as their only relics.
Their bodies were thrown out of doors, and every
morning gathered up in carts and carried to the
outskirts of the city to be buried in a trench with-
out ceremony.
This was only one of a dozen such prison-houses.
There was one other that, if anything, was worse.
It was the New Jail, and it still stands in City Hall
[>75l
The Story of Manhattan
Park and is now the Hall of Records. During the
war it was known as The Provost, because it was
the head-quarters of a provost-marshal named Cun-
ningham. It was his custom at the conclusion of
his drunken revels to parade his weak, ill, half-fed
prisoners before his guests, as fine specimens of the
rebel army. It is said of him, too, that he poisoned
those who died too slowly of cold and starvation,
and then went right on drawing money to feed
them. This gave rise to the saying that he starved
the living and fed the dead. He took a great delight
in being as cruel and merciless as he could, and very
often boasted that he had caused the death of more
rebels than had been killed by all of the King's forces.
Many American sailors were also captured (for
the Revolution was fought on the sea as well as on
land) and all these were placed aboard prison-ships —
useless hulks, worn-out freight-boats, and abandoned
men-of-war. For a time these hulks were anchored
close by the Battery, but afterward they were taken
to the Brooklyn shore. There was misery and suf-
fering on all of them, but the worst was called the
[•76]
New York a Prison-House
" Jersey," where captives were crowded into the
hold, the sick and the well, poorly fed and scarcely
clothed, so many of them as hardly to permit space
to lie down, watched over by a guard of merciless
soldiers. Disease in a dozen forms was always
present, and every morning the living were forced
to carry out those who had died over night.
During this year 1778, and for several years after,
the war was carried on for the most part in the
South, in Georgia and South Carolina, while the
British soldiers in the city made trips into the sur-
rounding country and laid it waste. Washington
and his army in New Jersey could do little more
than watch.
In the year 1780 the American cause came very
near receiving a serious check, when an officer high
in rank turned traitor. This man was Benedict
Arnold, and had been a vigorous fighter. But now
he bargained with the British to turn over to them
West Point, where he was chief in command. Ma-
jor John Andre, a brilliant young officer under the
British General Clinton, was sent to make the final
L!77]
The Story of Manhattan
arrangements. Andre was returning to New York
when he was captured with the plans of West Point
concealed in his boots. He was hanged as a spy,
and Arnold, escaping to the British in New York,
fought with them, despised by the Americans and
mistrusted by the English ; for a traitor can never
be truly liked or respected even by those who bene-
fit by his treachery.
The War of the Revolution went on until the
fall of the year 1 78 1 , when General Washington
made a sudden move that drew his men away from
the vicinity of New York before the British army
could foresee it. Then he hurried to the South.
There, at Yorktown, in Virginia, the combined
American army hemmed in, and after a battle
forced to surrender, Lord Cornwallis, the British
commander in the South, and all his men.
This victory was so great that it really ended the
war. Great Britain gave up the struggle, and a
treaty of peace was signed.
And now you will see how the British army left
the city of New York.
CHAPTER XXX
After the War
ON a crisp, cold day, late in the fall, a tall,
mild-faced man on a spirited horse passed
down the Bowery Road, followed by a
long train of soldiers whose shabby clothes and
worn faces told of days of trial and hardship. This
was General George Washington with a portion of
the Continental army. They were entering New
York on this same day when the British troops
were leaving it.
But although the British were leaving under the
terms of the treaty of peace, and had gone on
board ships that were to take them to England,
there were many who were filled with rage at this
enforced departure. At the fort by the river-side
they had knocked the cleats off the flag-pole, and
had greased the pole so that no one could climb it
to put up the United States flag and thus flaunt it
in the face of the departing troops. But the sol-
[!79]
The Story of Manhattan
diers of Washington who reached the fort just as
the last British company was leaving, set to work
with hammer and saw. They made new cleats for
the pole. Then a young sailor — his name was
John Van Arsdale — filling his pockets with the
cleats and nailing them above him as he climbed
the pole step by step, was able to put the flag in
position. And as it floated to the breeze a salute
of thirteen guns sounded while the British troops
were still within hearing.
So now the city of New York, which for seven
years the British had occupied, was again in posses-
sion of the citizens.
General Washington only remained here a few
days. He made his head-quarters in Fraunces's
Tavern, in Broad Street, and there at noon on De-
cember 4th, his officers assembled to hear his words
of farewell. It was an affectionate parting of men
who had suffered danger and privations together.
There were tears in Washington's eyes.
" With a heart full of love and gratitude," said
he, " I now take my leave of you, and most de-
[180]
Is
k.
CO
V
SS
^
CO
CO
I*.
After the War
voutly wish that your latter days may be as pros-
perous and happy as your former ones have been
glorious and honorable."
It was not a time for much talking, and Wash-
ington was soon gone, leaving real sorrow behind
him. Within a few weeks he had resigned his
commission as commander-in-chief, and had re-
tired as a private citizen to his home at Mount
Vernon.
The city of New York was in quite a deplorable
state. The wide tract swept by the fire of 1776
still lay in blackened ruins. No effort had been
made to rebuild except where temporary wooden
huts had been set up by the soldiers. The
churches, all of which had been used for one pur-
pose or another, were dismantled, blackened, and
.marred. There was scarcely a house in all the lit-
tle town that had not been ill-used by the soldiers.
Fences were down, and the streets were filled with
rubbish. It was a city stricken with premature
decay. Business life was dead, and would have to
be begun all over again. The citizens were di-
[183]
The Story of Manhattan
vided against themselves. Feuds existed every-
where. Patriots who had fled and had now come
back felt a deep bitterness against those who had
adopted the royal cause for the purpose of keeping
possession of their property. These, however,
complained just as bitterly because now their
homes were taken from them in the adjustment.
King's College, of which you have been told,
had been closed all during the war, and had been
used as a hospital. It was opened now, but was
called Columbia College, as the King no longer had
any claims on the city or its institutions.
During the next few years business slowly re-
vived, and day by day the city was rebuilt, growing
into something like its old self.
Some little distance above the Common was the
City Hospital. There came rumors at this time
that the bodies of the dead were being stolen from
the graveyards and used by the students for dis-
secting purposes. There was no truth in these
stories, yet many persons became alarmed. They
gathered, broke into the hospital and destroyed
[184]
After the War
everything of value. The doctors fled to the jail
on the Common for protection. The mob de-
termined to seize them, and tore down the fences
about the jail. Then the Mayor gathered a body
of citizens to oppose the mob. As night came
on, the rioters, becoming more and more destruc-
tive, were fired upon and five were killed. After
this they scampered away, the trouble was over,
and that was the last of the Doctors' Mob.
['«5i
CHAPTER XXXI
The First President of
the United States
REBUILDING a city and forming a new
nation is such a great task that you can
readily believe it was not accomplished
without some difficulty. The colonies were free
from the rule of the English King, but it was
necessary for them to learn to govern themselves.
Each of the new States now had its own govern-
ment. It was thought by many that there should
be some powerful central government to control all
the States. So after a great deal of deliberation a
convention was held in Philadelphia over which
George Washington presided. After four months
of hard work the present Constitution of the United
States was given to each State to be approved.
There was strong need for this step to be taken,
but there were a great many who did not want it,
because they thought it would give the President as
[186]
The First President of the United States
much power as a king, and as they had gone to
some cost to rid themselves of a king, they did not
wish another. Those who wanted a central gov-
ernment were called Federalists. Those who did
not want it were called Anti-Federalists.
In New York there was one man who did every-
thing that man could do to convince others that the
central government was the best thing for the good
of the new nation. His name was Alexander
Hamilton. He was a young man who had been,
ever since he was a boy, a friend of George Wash-
ington ; who had lived in Washington's family and
had fought as an officer side by side with Wash-
ington, and was a man of much power and deep
learning.
This Constitution of the United States had been
approved by nine of the States, when, in June, 1788,
a convention was held to determine whether New
York was to approve it or not. At this convention
Alexander Hamilton spoke eloquently, in an effort
to have the Constitution approved.
The convention was still meeting in July, hav-
[187]
The Story of Manhatta
N
ing come to no decision, when the followers of
Hamilton, the Federalists, had a great parade
through the streets of New York. It was the first
big parade in the city, and the grandest spectacle
Celebratio?i of the Adoption of the Constitution.
that had ever been seen in America up to this time.
The most imposing part of it was a great wooden
ship on wheels, made to represent the Ship of State,
and called the " Federal Ship Hamilton." The
[188J
The First President of the United States
parade was a mile and a half long and there were
five thousand men in it. It passed along the streets
of the city, past the fort, and on up Broadway over
the tree-covered hill above the Common, and on
to the Bayard Farm beyond the Collect Pond.
There a halt was made and the thousands of people
sat down on the grass to a dinner.
Three days after this the convention approved of
the Constitution for the State of New York. And
so the majority of the States having agreed to it, in
the next year George Washington was chosen as the
first President of the United States, and the city of
New York was selected as the temporary seat of the
general government.
[189]
CHAPTER XXXII
The Welcome
to George Washington
NOW that New York was the seat of the na-
tional government, the old City Hall in
Wall Street was made larger and fitted
up in grand style and was called Federal Hall.
In April George Washington came to this city
from his home at Mount Vernon. Every step of
his way, by carriage and on horseback, was a march
of triumph. The people in towns and villages and
countryside greeted him with shouts and signs of
affection. But it was in New York that the great-
est welcome was given him.
The city had taken on a most picturesque ap-
pearance. Every house was decorated with colors,
and when Washington landed from a barge at the
foot of Wall Street, he walked up a stairway strewn
with flowers. The streets were so thronged that
way could scarcely be made. Not only were the
[190]
s
Co
Oh
"5S
The Welcome to George Washington
streets filled, but every window and every house-
top. The people waited for hours, and when
Washington arrived a wild hubbub commenced
that kept up all the day long.
Washington was escorted to the house that had
been prepared for him, a little way out of town at
the top of a hill.
If in the days that you read this you walk along
Pearl Street until you come to the East River
bridge at Franklin Square, a part of the city crowd-
ed with tenements and factories, you will stand
close by where the house was. On the abutment
of the bridge you will find a tablet that has been
riveted to the stone, so that all who pass may
know that Washington once lived there. The
house was built by Walter Franklin, a rich mer-
chant, and was therefore called the Franklin House.
The square, however, does not take its name from
this man, but from the renowned Benjamin Frank-
lin.
Very soon, on a bright, sunshiny day, Washing-
ton stood on the balcony of Federal Hall, sur-
[J93J
The Story of Manhattan
rounded by the members of the Senate and the
House of Representatives, with the citizens throng-
ing every inch of the nearby streets. And there he
The John Street Theatre, 1781.
took the oath of office, and having taken it the cry
was raised, " Long Live George Washington, First
President of the United States," a cry that was
[ 1 94 j
The Welcome to George Washington
echoed from street to street, and went on echoing
out into the country beyond.
The life of the First President was a simple
and a busy one. He rose at four o'clock each
morning and went to bed at nine in the even-
ing. Many hours a day he worked at matters of
state, receiving all who called, so that there was
quite a stream of people going to and from the
Franklin House at all times. Sometimes during
the day he took a long drive with Mrs. Washington,
which he called the " Fourteen Miles 'round," going
up one side of the island above the city and com-
ing down the other. Sometimes of an evening he
attended a performance at the little John Street
Theatre. Always on Sunday he and all his fam-
ily went to St. Paul's Chapel. And the pew
in which they sat you can sit in if you go to
that old chapel, for it has been preserved all these
years.
By this time the fort by the Bowling Green,
which had stood since the days of the Dutch, was
torn down to make room for a mansion that was to
[i9S]
The Story of Manhattan
be called the Government House and be occupied
by the President.
The mansion was built, but you shall see pres-
ently why no President ever occupied it.
[.96]
CHAPTER XXXIII
Concerning the
Tammany Society and
Burr's Bank
THERE was formed just about this time, in
fact the very month after Washington's
inauguration, an organization which was
called the Tammany Society. And out of this
society grew the great political body — Tammany
Hall. The Tammany Society took its name from
a celebrated Indian chief, and at first had as its
central purpose the effort to keep a love of country
strong in every heart. The best men in the city
belonged to the Tammany Society, which held
meetings and transacted business under all sorts of
odd and peculiar forms. It divided the seasons of
the year into the Season of Blossoms, the Season
of Fruits, the Season of Moons, and the Season of
Snows, instead of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and
097]
The Story of Manhattan
Winter. And the head of the order was called the
Grand Sachem or Chief.
New York now became a very active and a very
brilliant city indeed, and all manner of improve-
ments were made. The first sidewalks were laid
along Broadway, just above St. Paul's Chapel.
They were pavements of brick, so narrow that two
persons could scarcely walk along side by side.
Then the high hill crossed by Broadway just above
the Common was cut away so that the street
stretched away as broad and as straight as you see
it to-day. Numbers were put on the houses and
streets were cut through the waste lands about the
Collect Fond, and the barracks which were built for
the British soldiers were torn away as unsightly
structures. These barracks were log huts a story
high, enclosed by a high wall. The gate at one
end, called Tryon's Gate, gave the name to Try-
on's Row as it now exists. Trinity Church, which
had been in ruins since the fire, was rebuilt, as
well as many, many other houses.
Now the fact that the city was the seat of the
[198J
The Tammany Society and Burr's Bank
national government and was the home of Wash-
ington had much to do with its improvement. But
New York had only been fixed upon as the capital
temporarily, and a dozen States were anxious for
that honor. Finally, in the second year that Wash-
ington was President, it was decided to build a city
which should be the seat of the general govern-
ment, on land given by the States of Maryland and
Virginia for that purpose and called the District of
Columbia. While the city (which was given the
name of Washington) was being built, the seat of
government was to be in Philadelphia, and Wash-
ington went there to live. A great many of the
gay and brilliant company that had been attracted
to the capital followed him there, and for a time
New York languished in neglect.
It now began to look as though the United
States would be drawn into another war with Great
Britain. For the French Revolution was in prog-
ress and the French people were at war with the
English, and thought that the Americans should
help them as they had helped the Americans in
[J99]
The Story of Manhattan
Revolutionary times. But President Washington
and some of the very wise and good people about
him thought it best to have nothing to do with
it. So a treaty was made between England and the
United States, and the French did not get the help
thev asked.
Some of the citizens of New York, quite a large
number of them, were very angry when they heard
of this treaty and burned a copy of it on the Bowl-
ing Green, with all sorts of threats. But after a
time those who had shouted against it changed
their minds. They had something more serious to
think of nearer home before many years, for the
small-pox broke out in the city and thousands
upon thousands hurried away to escape the dread
disease. All business was at a standstill, and even
the churches were closed. When the scourge had
spent its force, it was found that more than 2,000
had died of it.
There was one man who took advantage of the
small-pox scare to his own profit. This was Aaron
Burr. You will remember him as a boy fighting
[200]
The Tammany Society and Burr's Bank
by the side of Montgomery in Canada. He was
now a lawyer known for his great skill the country
over ; a man of education and deep learning. He
was the leader of a political party, a party which
contended with, fought with, disagreed with at
every turn the party of which Alexander Hamilton
was one of the chief leaders.
Now there were two banks in the city, both of
which were under the control of the party to which
Alexander Hamilton belonged. Aaron Burr deter-
mined that his party should have a bank, too.
The citizens were prejudiced against banks, and did
not want a new one. But Burr determined to es-
tablish one, and set about it in a most peculiar way.
All at once the report got about that the small-pox
had been caused by the well-water. This was
about all there was to drink in the city, except that
which came from a few springs and was said to be
very impure indeed. So Aaron Burr and his
friends secured a charter for a company that was to
supply clear, pure water. This pleased the citizens
very much. But there was a clause in the charter
[201]
The Story of Manhattan
to the effect that as all the money might not be
needed for the bringing of water into the city, that
which remained could be used for any purpose the
company saw fit. Only those in the secret under-
stood that the money was to be used to start a
Reservoir of Manhattan Water-Works in Chambers Street.
bank. So the company dug deep wells not far
from the Collect Pond, and pumped water from
them into a reservoir which was built close by the
Common on Chambers Street, and then sent it
through the city by means of curious wooden
[202]
The Tammany Society and Burr's Bank
pipes. This water was really just as impure as that
which had before been taken from the wells, and it
was not long before the new water-works were
known to be a failure. Then the company gave all
their attention to the bank, which had in the mean-
while been started.
This company of Aaron Burr's was called the
Manhattan Company, and their Manhattan Bank
has been kept going ever since and is still in exist-
ence in a fine large building in Wall Street.
So you see Aaron Burr this time got the better
of Alexander Hamilton and his friends.
If you turn the page you will read more of
Hamilton and Burr.
[203]
CHAPTER XXXIV
More about Hamilton
and Burr
THE dawn of the nineteenth century saw
60,000 people in the city of New York
and the town extending a mile up the
island. Above the city were farms and orchards
and the country homes of the wealthy. Where
as < ■
The Collect Pond.
Broadway ended there was a patch of country
called Lispenard's Meadow, and about this time a
canal was cut through it from the Collect Pond to
[204]
More about Hamilton and Burr
the Hudson River. This was the canal which long
years afterward was filled in and gave its name to
Canal Street.
From time to time there were projects for setting
out a handsome park about the shores of the Col-
lect Pond, but the townspeople thought it was too
far away from the city. But in a few years the city
grew up to the Collect Pond, which was then filled
in, and to-day a gloomy prison (The Tombs) is
built upon the spot.
One of the new undertakings was the building of
a new City Hall, as the old one in Wall Street was
no longer large enough. So the present City Hall
was begun on what was then the Common, but it was
not finished for a good ten years. The front and
sides were of white marble, and the rear of cheaper
red sandstone, as it was thought that it would be
many years before anyone would live far enough
uptown to notice the difference. How odd this
seems in these days, when the City Hall is quite at
the beginning of the city.
Aaron Burr had by this time been elected Vice-
[205]
The Story of Manhattan
President of the United States. But he soon lost
the confidence of the people, and when, in the year
1 803, he hoped to be made Governor of the State of
New York, he was defeated.
Now at this time Alexander Hamilton was still a
The Grange, Kingsbridge Road, the Residence of
Alexander Hamilton.
leader in the party opposed to Aaron Burr, and did
everything possible to defeat him. And Burr,
angered because of this, and believing that Hamil-
ton had sought to bring dishonor upon him, chal-
lenged Hamilton to a duel — the popular way of
[ao6]
More about Hamilton and Burr
settling such serious grievances. So Hamilton
accepted the challenge and on a morning in the
middle of the summer of 1804, just after sunrise,
the duel took place on the heights of the shore of New
Jersey, just above Weehawken. Hamilton fell at the
first fire mortally wounded. The next day he died.
There was great sorrow throughout the entire
country, for he was a brave and good man, and had
been a leader since the War of the Revolution.
All the citizens followed him to his rest in Trinity
Churchyard, and in the churchyard to-day you can
see his tomb carefully taken care of and decorated,
year by year.
After the death of Hamilton the feeling against Burr
in the city was bitter indeed, and he soon went away.
A few years later, when a project was formed for
establishing a great empire in the southwest and
overthrowing the United States, this same Aaron
Burr was thought to be concerned in the plot.
When, after a trial, he was 'acquitted, he went to
live in Europe. But he returned after a time, and
the last years of his life were passed in New York.
[207]
CHAPTER XXXV
Robert Fulton Builds
a Steam-Boat
THERE had come to be a great need for
schools. There were private schools and
there were school-rooms attached to some
of the churches, but it was in this year, 1805, that
the first steps were taken to have free schools
for all.
A kindly man named De Witt Clinton was
Mayor of the city, and he, with some other citizens,
organized the Free School Society that was to pro-
vide an education for every child. The following
year the first free school was opened. The society
continued in force for forty-eight years, each year
the number of its schools increasing, until finally all
its property was turned over to the city.
In the days when De Witt Clinton was Mayor
the first steam-boat was built to be used on the
Hudson River. For many a year there had been
[208]
Robert Fulton Builds a Steam-Boat
men who felt sure that steam could be applied to
boats and made to propel them against the wind
and the tide. They had tried very hard to build
such a boat but none had succeeded. Sometimes
the boilers burst. Sometimes the paddle-wheels re-
fused to revolve. For one reason or another the
boats were failures.
A man named John Fitch had built a little steam-
boat and had tried it on the Collect Pond, where it
had steamed around much to the surprise of the
good people of the city who went to look at it.
But it was considered more as a toy than anything
else. Nothing came of the experiment, and the
boat itself was neglected after a time and dragged
up on the bank beside the lake, where it lay until
it rotted away.
Then Robert Livingston, who was chancellor of
the city, felt sure he could build a steam-boat that
would be of use. As he was a wealthy man he
spent a great deal of money trying to make such a
boat ; and as he was a very learned man he gave
much thought to it.
[•209]
The Story of Manhattan
Chancellor Livingston was in France when he
met another American, named Robert Fulton, who
was an artist and a civil engineer, and who also
hoped to build a boat that could be moved by
/.-£&'. \'°f>.s., '■'',:■'■, i J--
■7</
■RR
i.*^~— 1^_ --a
' K...v.*.-iij.i^t .— _i "
77/^ Clermont, Fu/ton's First Steam-Boat.
steam. Livingston and Fulton decided that they
would together build such a boat.
So Fulton came back to New York and with the
money given him by Livingston began to build a
steam-boat which he called the Clermont — the name
of Chancellor Livingston's country home. The
[2IO]
Robert Fulton Builds a Steam-Boat
citizens laughed a good deal at the idea and called
the boat " Fulton's Folly." In August, 1807, the
Clermont was finished, and a crowd gathered to see
it launched and to laugh at its failure. But the
boat moved out into the stream and up the Hudson
River, while the people gazed in wonder at the
marvellous thing gliding through the water, moved
apparently by some more than human force. It
went all the way to Albany, and from that day on
continued to make trips up and down the river.
This was the first successful steam-boat in the world.
Soon steam ferry-boats took the place of those
which had been driven by horse-power. Quickly,
too, after the success of the Clermont, steam navi-
gation went rapidly forward on both sides of the
ocean. Fulton made other and much better boats.
Other men followed in his footsteps, and the great
ocean liners of to-day are one of the results.
[«i]
CHAPTER XXXVI
The City Plan
IT is interesting at this time to read how
the streets came to be just where they are.
The city was growing more rapidly than ever
and the streets and byways met one another at
every sort of angle, forming a tangled maze. To
remedy this, a commission was formed of several of
the prominent citizens to determine just what course
the streets should take. Now this commission de-
cided not to interfere with those that existed, but to
map out the island above the city and plan for those
that were to be. They worked for four years and
then submitted, in the year 1811, what they called
the City Plan. If you will look at a map, you will
see at the lower part of the Island of Manhattan
that the streets cross and recross each other in the
most bewildering manner. And you will also see
that above this jumble the streets and avenues ex-
tend through the island in a regular and uniform
[212]
The City Plan
way. This change was the result of the City
Plan.
While the commission was making its plan, there
came threatenings of war. Again England was at
war with France, and those two countries in fighting
one another very often injured the American ships.
Besides, the British war-ships had a disagreeable
way of searching American ships and taking charge
of any Englishmen they found on them, even those
who had become American citizens. These same
British war-ships often fired upon those American
vessels whose captains objected to their being
searched.
So it came about that American ships carrying
merchandise to other countries and bringing mer-
chandise to American ports were interfered with
more and more, and American commerce was thus
ruined, for no American ship was safe. The end
' came early in the year i 8 1 2, when the United States
declared war against Great Britain.
As soon as war was declared, the citizens of New
York united for defence, and when news came that
l>T3]
The Story of Manhattan
the city was to be attacked, a great meeting was held
in City Hall Park, and everybody decided, then
Castle Garden.
and there, to support their country with their fort-
unes, their honor, and their lives. Then they went
to work, stopping all other employment, and night
[214]
The City Plan
and day they built forts and defences. They built
forts on the islands in the bay to defend the ap-
proach to the city from the ocean, and they built
forts in the Hell Gate to defend the approach by
way of Long Island Sound, and they built batteries
on the Island of Manhattan itself. One fort built
at this time was on a little island close by the Bat-
tery, and was called Fort Clinton. This afterward
became Castle Garden.
But though the British had sent soldiers and
ships to fight the forces in America, they made no
effort to capture the city of New York.
The war went on for two years ; there were
battles, many of them, on the land and on the
sea. Very often the British had the best of it, and
then again the Americans would have the best of it.
But in the end, although the British fought hard,
the Americans fought harder, and in the first
month of the year 1815 the war ended with a
great battle in New Orleans, which the Ameri-
cans won.
[215]
CHAPTER XXXVII
The Story of the Erie
Canal
EVERYTHING was going along smoothly
when all at once the yellow fever broke out
on the west side, far downtown. It raged
with even more violence than had the small-pox.
Citizens fled, and the stricken district was fenced off*
so that no one might enter it. It was like a place of
the dead, silent and deserted. Many people went
far out of town to Greenwich Village, and many
business houses opened offices in this little settle-
ment; with the result that Greenwich Village started
on a new life, and it was not long before it grew to
be an important part of New York instead of a
suburb. For many who had transferred their busi-
ness also went to live there, not returning to the
city even after the fever had passed away.
In the year after the fever (it was by this time
1824) General Lafayette came again to America and
[ai6]
c3
V
The Story of the Erie Canal
was warmlv received. Landing first at Staten Island,
he was, on the following day, escorted by a naval
procession and conducted to Castle Garden. A mul-
titude came to voice their welcome and follow him to
the City Hall, where he was greeted by the Mayor
and all of the officials. During his stay he held
daily receptions in the City Hall, and afterward
visited the public institutions and buildings. On
leaving for a tour of the country he was accom-
panied all the way to Kingsbridge by a detachment
of troops. For thirteen months he travelled through
the country, and when he returned to New York in
the autumn of the next year, the citizens gave a
banquet in his honor, at Castle Garden, which sur-
passed anything of the kind that had ever been
seen.
Then General Lafayette sailed away to France
again. In the month after he had gone, with all
the city cheering him and making such a din that
you would have thought that there never could be
a greater, in the very next month the city was again
all decorated, and more shouts rent the air, for
[219]
The Story of Manhattan
a grand undertaking had just been completed,
which you shall now hear of.
Ever since the days of the Revolution there had
been talk of digging a canal from the Great Lakes
to the Atlantic Ocean ; for you must know that in
these days there being no railroads, most of the
traffic and travel were done by water. This canal
had been long talked of, but no step had been taken
toward building it.
Now you will remember that De Witt Clinton,
while he was Mayor, took a great deal of interest in
everything that was for the good of the city. Well,
after he had been Mayor for some years, he became
Governor of the State, and it was he who came to
think that although the building of the canal would
be a great undertaking, for it would have to be
more than 300 miles long, it might after all be ac-
complished. For years he worked, with some
others, while many said that it was a foolish idea,
and too much of a task even to think of. But still
Clinton worked at his plans, and finally, the money
having been given by the State, the digging of the
[220]
The Story of the Erie Canal
canal was begun. The work went on for eight
years, and in the month of October, 1825, was fin-
ished.
The canal was a water-way that stretched across
the State of New York from Buffalo to Albany
and there joined the Hudson River, which leads
straight to the city of New York, and so on to the
ocean.
The people in the city and in the State were de-
lighted at the completion of the work, and on the
day of the opening of the canal they expressed their
joy as loudly as they could. Governor De Witt Clin-
ton was at the Buffalo end, and he, with the State
officers, started in a boat decorated with flags and
bunting and was towed through the canal. As the
boat set out from Buffalo, a cannon was fired, and
many more cannon having been placed each within
hearing distance of the other by the side of the
canal, in turn took up the sound and carried it
along, mile after mile, until the last one, stationed
in the city of New York, was fired, one hour and
twenty-five minutes after the first had been fired at
[221]
The Story of Manhattan
Buffalo. By this the people all across the State
knew that the canal had been opened.
For ten days the boats crept along the canal, and
at each town bands played, and speeches were made,
until on the tenth day the Governor and his party
reached New York — the first to make the journey
across the State by water. They were taken to
Sandy Hook, the Mayor of New York, with many
others, attending, and surrounded by all the ships
in the bay, with their colors flying and their whis-
tles blowing. And there at Sandy Hook, Gov-
ernor Clinton poured a keg of water which he had
brought from Lake Erie into the waters of the
ocean.
Thus were the waters of the Great Lakes and the
waters of the Atlantic Ocean united, and the city
was illuminated as it had never been before, and
great bonfires burned all night, in honor of the
wedding.
[222]
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The Building
of the Croton Aqueduct
IT really seemed now as though some fairy
wand had been turned toward New York.
Blocks of houses of brick and stone sprang
up, and buildings of every sort crept up the Island
of Manhattan and were occupied by more than
200,000 people. The city was the centre of art
and literature and science in America. The
streets were lighted by gas ; there were fine thea-
tres ; and the first street railroad in the world was
in operation — the first step toward crowding out
the lumbering stages. Newspapers were multiply-
ing, and there were now fifty various sorts, daily,
weekly, and monthly. The dailies cost six cents,
and were delivered to regular subscribers. In the
year 1833 the Sun, the first penny paper to be pub-
lished in the city, was issued. It was a success.
Boys sold it on the streets in all parts of the town.
[>23]
The Story of Manhattan
This was the beginning of the work of the news-
boys, and after this they were to be found all over
the country.
But now there came another great fire. On a
December night, a night so cold that it was said
there had not been such another in fifty years,
flames broke out in the lower part of town near the
river. The citizens battled with it as best they
could, but it burned for three days, destroying al-
most all of the business end of the city. For years
afterward it was called the " Great Fire," and was
remembered with dread. To-day there is a marble
tablet on a house in Pearl Street near Coenties Slip,
which was the centre of the burned district, where
you can read of how fearful the fire was and how
thankful the people were that the entire city was
not destroyed. But the houses were quickly re-
built, and New York prospered more than ever
before.
Destructive as the fire was, however, it called at-
tention to the fact that there was a woful lack of
water in the city. Most of the water was still sup-
[224]
Jo
S
»H
Oh
The Building of the Croton Aqueduct
plied by the wells and springs which had been suf-
ficient for a small town, but were by no means so
for a city of the present size. It was now that the
idea of bringing a large supply of water from with-
out the city was conceived. The plan was to build
an artificial course, or aqueduct, for water, from
the Croton River, forty miles and more above the
city. Many thought that this was not possible, but
then other seemingly impossible things had been
accomplished, so they pushed ahead and com-
menced the building of this work. A dam was
thrown across the Croton River, forming a lake
five miles long. The aqueduct extended from this
dam to the city. Sometimes it had to be cut
through the solid rock ; sometimes it was continued
underground by tunnel ; sometimes over valleys by
embankments, until at last it reached the Harlem
River where a stone bridge, called the High Bridge,
was built to support it. Through this channel of
solid masonry the water was brought into the city,
and when it reached the Island of Manhattan was
distributed in pipes over the entire city. This
[227]
The Story of Manhattan
wonderful work cost $9,000,000, and took seven
years to build. When the water was first released
from Croton River and flowed into the new chan-
High Bridge, Croton Aqueduct.
nel, rushing along for forty miles to the city, the
citizens rejoiced greatly. There was a celebration
with parades and illuminations.
It now looked as though there would be enough
[228]
The Building of the Croton Aqueduct
water to last no matter how large the city should
become, tor there were now 95,000,000 gallons a
day available. But before another fifty years had
passed there was a cry for more water. But this
time the people knew just what to do, and another
aqueduct was built from the Croton River. This
one was carried under the Harlem River instead of
over it, supplying so much water that it will doubt-
less be many a long year indeed before another will
be needed.
[229]
CHAPTER XXXIX
Professor Morse and the
Telegraph
K~ ~~"AHERE lived in New York at this time a
man whose name was Samuel F. B. Morse.
He was an artist and was interested in
many branches of science. He had founded the
National Academy of Design and was Professor of
the Literature of the Arts of Design at the Uni-
versity of the City of New York. This man be-
lieved that an electric current could be transmitted
through a wire and so make it possible to convey a
message from one point to another. One night,
after having worked on his idea for years, he in-
vited a few friends to the University building, which
overlooked Washington Square, and showed them
the result of his labors. It was the first telegraph
in the world. This was a crude affair, but Pro-
fessor Morse proved that he could send a message
over a wire. In the year 1845 ne na<^ advanced
[23o_
Professor Morse and the Telegraph
so far that a telegraph line was built between New
York City and Philadelphia. Then all the world
recognized the genius of Morse. The people of
New York especially honored him, and even in his
lifetime they erected a statue of him which you can
see to-day in Central Park.
By this time the city had crept up to both Green-
wich Village and Bowery Village, and had engulfed
them. On every side were houses, some of them
five and six stories high, where before they had been
but two stories.
An open space nearby Bowery Village was called
Astor Place. This was the scene in 1 849 of a
famous riot, which came about in this wise : Edwin
Forrest, an American actor, and William Charles
Macready, an English actor, had quarrelled about
some fancied slight. So when Macready came to
the city to play at the Astor Place Opera House,
some friends of Forrest's gathered and sought to
prevent his acting by shouting their disapproval.
This was the excuse for an unruly mob to gather
outside the theatre and storm the house with stones.
The Story of Manhattan
Macready escaped by leaving the theatre by a rear
door. Then a regiment of soldiers came and after
using all peaceful measures to quell the disturbance,
fired upon the mob and killed many of them before
the space was cleared and quiet restored.
Crystal Palace.
Castle Garden, which had once been Fort Clin-
ton, had become a place of amusement. Here
Jenny Lind, " the Swedish Nightingale," sang, and
many another artist of rare ability was seen and
heard.
[>32]
Professor Morse and the Telegraph
Now, too, a World's Fair was opened on Mur-
ray Hill. Held in a fairy-like building of glass,
made in the form of a Greek cross, with graceful
dome and arches, it was a Crystal Palace in fact
as in name, where all the products of the world
were shown. But, unfortunately, a few years later
it was burned to the ground.
There are always some wise and thoughtful peo-
ple who think of the comfort of others, and some of
these realized that it would not be long before the
Island of Manhattan would be so covered with
houses that there would be no open places where
one might enjoy fresh air and recreation. They
said it would be well to have a garden laid out for
this purpose, with walks and drives as needed.
This was done and an immense tract of woodland
and forest, almost as large as the city itself at the
time, was set apart. As this was in the centre of
the island it was called the Central Park. Millions
of people have been thankful for it, although they
have not put their gratitude into words.
We have now come to the days of the Great
[233~\
The Story of Manhattan
Civil War, when many men left the city to join the
army. Now there were those who did not see the
necessity for war and had no desire to be soldiers,
so when more men were called for there was a riot ;
a terrible and destructive one. A mob swept over
the city, a murderous, plundering mob that left a
trail of horror wherever it touched ; and before it
was put down a thousand persons had been killed
or injured, and $2,000,000 damage had been done.
This was the Draft Riot. The Civil War ended,
the city prospered, growing greater and greater,
until in the year 1878 the stages and horse-cars
could no longer carry all the people. Then rail-
roads elevated above the streets were built that
could carry great numbers swiftly to all parts of the
city.
New York, already become one of the great
cities of the world, advanced with giant strides.
[234]
CHAPTER XL
The Greater New York
THE time came when the city of New York
grew beyond the limits of the Island of
Manhattan, though the island had seemed
such a boundless tract of land, that it had been
thought laughable for the City Plan to provide for
streets over its entire length. The city grew larger
and larger. It stretched up to the Harlem River,
leaped over it and went branching out into the
country beyond. Great libraries were built ; hos-
pitals for the sick ; prisons for the wrong-doer,
markets, churches, public institutions of every kind.
Buildings grew taller and taller until they came to
be twenty and twenty-five stories high. Even then
there were so many people that there were not
houses enough to hold them all. So they swarmed
over into the already large city of Brooklyn, on Long
Island. And the ferry-boats being no longer able to
carry the vast crowds in comfort, a great suspension
L235J
The Story of Manhattan
bridge was built over the East River from New
York to Brooklyn. At last the city of New York
and the city of Brooklyn had so much in common,
that they, with some of their suburbs, were united
into one great city in the year 1898.
Then the Island of Manhattan became simply
the Borough of Manhattan, one of the five boroughs
of Greater New York.
So the story of the Island of Manhattan is
ended.
[236]
Table of 'Events
Year
1609.
1613.
1614.
1614.
1621.
1626.
1629.
l633-
1636.
1638.
1641.
1642.
1643.
1644.
1646.
1647.
1652.
1653.
1655.
1664.
the Manors
were
Hudson discovers the island of Manhattan .
Ship Tiger burned . . .
United New Netherland Company organized
Fort Manhattan built .
West India Company organized
Peter Minuit Governor
Fort Amsterdam built .
Charter adopted under which
established
Van Twiller Governor
Annetje Jans' Farm laid out
William Kieft appointed Governor
First Cattle Fair held on Bowling Green .
Stadt Huys built
Church built in the Fort ....
Beginning of the Indian wars
Fence erected, which was later replaced by a
and still later by Wall Street .
Peter Stuyvesant appointed Governor
Kieft and Dominie Bogardus drowned in the wreck
of the Princess while returning to Holland
City of New Amsterdam incorporated
New Amsterdam made a walled city by the bu
of a wall across the island
Stuyvesant subdues the Swedes on the Delaware
Indian war breaks out again
English capture New Amsterdam and it becomes
York
Richard Nicolls Governor ....
wall
ilding
New
[237j
Page
4
IO
12
J3
l3
17
19
21
24
27
33
36
36
36
39
41
44
42
47
48
48
49
53
55
Table of Events
Year
1667.
1670.
I673-
1674.
1678.
1681.
1682.
1686.
1688.
1689.
1 69 I,
1692.
1693.
1696.
1697.
1699.
1700.
Francis Lovelace appointed Governor
Lovelace establishes the first Exchange
First mail route established .
The Dutch retake New York
English again in possession of New York
Sir Edmund Andros Governor .
Captain Manning disgraced for surrendering New
York to the Dutch .
Bolting Act created
Andros recalled ....
Thomas Dongan Governor
Dongan Charter granted to the citv
New York and New England united, and Sir
Edmund Andros Governor
William III. becomes King of England
Jacob Leisler assumes title of Lieutenant-Governor
and takes charge of New York
Henry Sloughter Governor .
Leisler amd Milborne executed .
Governor Sloughter dies
Benjamin Fletcher Governor
Bradford establishes first printing press
Trinity Church built .
Bolting Act repealed .
Lord Bellomont appointed Governor
Captain Kidd sails to search for pirates
Streets first lighted at night .
City wall demolished and Wall Street
City Hall built in Wall Street .
First library opened
[238]
in the colony
laid out
Page
55
57
57
58
60
61
62
62
64
64
65
65
66
67
70
74
75
77
79
79
63
82
83
87
87
87
87
Table of Events
Year
I7OI.
I702.
I705.
I708.
I7IO.
I7II.
I714.
I715.
172O.
I725.
I728.
1729.
•731-
1732.
1733-
1735-
I736-
1741.
!743-
>745-
1752.
1753-
« 755-
1756.
759-
Captain Kidd executed in England
Lord Bellomont dies ....
Lord Cornbury Governor .
Queen's Farm granted to Trinity Church
Anne
Lord Lovelace Governor
Robert Hunter Governor .
Public slave market established .
First public clock set on City Hall in Wall
Lewis Morris appointed Chief-Justice
William Burnet Governor .
Bradford prints first newspaper in city
John Montgomery Governor
First Jewish cemetery established
First Fire Department organized
Montgomery dies
William Cosby Governor .
James De Lancey made Chief-Justice
Peter Zenger tried for libel .
Governor Cosby dies .
Negro Plot
George Clinton Governor .
Louisburg captured
Walton House built
Sir Danvers Osborne Governor .
Sir Charles Hardy Governor
Corner-stone of King's College laid
Lord Loudoun appointed Commander
British forces in America
General Jeffrey Amherst appointed
Chief in place of Lord Loudoun
[239]
by Queen
Street
in-Chief of the
Commander-in
Page
84
88
89
28
95
96
97
99
96
100
79
103
104
105
105
106
108
109
1 10
1 1 1
116
117
1 22
118
1 21
I 21
I 23
I23
Table of Events
York
Year
1760. Montreal captured ....
Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey dies
George II. of England dies
George III. becomes King .
1 76 1. Robert Monckton Governor
1763. Monckton resigns as Governor .
1765. Stamp Act passed
First Colonial Congress held in New
Sir Henry Moore Governor
1 766. Stamp Act repealed
Liberty Pole set up on the Common
1770. Statues of William Pitt and George III. erected
Tax removed on all articles except tea
Battle of Golden Hill .
1 77 1. Sir William Tryon Governor
1773. Tax on tea reduced
1774. Taxed Tea dumped into the river
First Continental Congress held
1775. Lexington massacre
Second Continental Congress
Turtle Bay stores seized
Marinus Willett seizes the
wagons ....
Battle of Bunker Hill .
Governor Tryon returns from England
General Montgomery killed at Quebec
I 776. April. — General Washington comes to New York after
the success of the Continental army at Boston
July. — Independence declared ....
August. — Battle of Long Island ....
[240]
British ammunition
Page
23
23
25
25
25
26
27
29
33
34
34
34
35
37
[49
38
39
[41
'43
144
46
48
,48
49
5°
5i
52
54
Table of Events
Year
I776.
1777.
I780.
I781.
1783-
I788.
1789.
I79O.
1798.
1803.
I 804.
1805.
1807.
l8ll.
I8I2.
September. — British occupy New York
Battle of Harlem Heights
A Great Fire ....
Nathan Hale executed .
November. — Fort Washington captured .
George Clinton, Governor of New York State
Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga .
Washington at Valley Forge
Benedict Arnold's treason ....
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis
September. — Treaty of Peace, between Great Britain
and the United States, signed ....
November. — British troops depart from New York
December. — Washington bids farewell to his officers
at Fraunces's Tavern
The Doctors' Mob
New York the seat of the National Government
Washington becomes First President of the United
States and comes to live in New York
The Government House built
Tammany Society organized
Trinity Church rebuilt
Small-pox epidemic
Manhattan Company established .
New City Hall begun
Alexander Hamilton killed by Aaron Burr
Free School Society organized
The Clermont launched
City Plan completed .
United States at war with Great Britain
[041]
Page
163
164
167
•57
168
171
172
172
177
178
178
179
180
185
189
190
196
197
198
200
203
205
207
208
21 1
21 2
213
Table of Events
Year Page
1 8 14. Fort Clinton (afterward called Castle Garden) built . 215
War with Great Britain ended 215
1823. Yellow fever epidemic 216
1824. General Lafayette comes again to America . .216
1825. Erie Canal celebration 221
Gas introduced into city 223
1833. First penny newspaper started 223
1835. The "Great Fire" destroys six hundred houses . 224
Work commenced on the Croton Aqueduct . .227
1842. Water admitted through the Croton Aqueduct . . 228
1845. First telegraph recording apparatus publicly tested by
Samuel F. B. Morse 230
1849. Forrest- Macready riots 231
1853. World's Fair in the Crystal Palace . . . -233
1856. Ground bought by the city for the Central Park . 233
1863. The Draft Riot 234
1870. Brooklyn Bridge started 235
1878. Elevated roads built 234
1883. Brooklyn Bridge completed 236
1898. The island of Manhattan becomes the Borough of
Manhattan of Greater New York .... 236
[242]
Index
Adventure galley, 82, 83
Amherst, General Jeffrey, 123
Amsterdam, 2, 14
Andre, Major John, 177, 178
Andros, Edmund, 61, 62, 64, 66, 68
Anne, Queen, 28, 91-93
Annetje Jans's farm, 27, 28
Anti-Federalists, 187
Anti-Leislerian Party, 68
Apthorpe, Charles Ward, 156
Apthorpe mansion, 156
Aqueduct, Croton, 227-229
Army, Continental, 144, 148, 151,
179
Arnold, Benedict, 177, 178
Astor Place riot, 231, 232
Astor Place, 231
Bank, Manhattan, 203
Banks, 201-203
Battery, 10, 68, 176
Battle of Bunker Hill, 148
Battle of Golden Hill, 136-138
Battle of Harlem Heights, 164,
165, 166
Battle of Long Island, 154, 155
Bayard Farm, 189
Bayard, Nicholas, 69, 72, 89
Bellomont, Lord, 82, 83, 86-88
Block, Adrian, 10-12
Bogardus, Everardus, 26, 37, 42
Bolting Act, 62, 63
Boston, 66, 84, 140, 141, 143
Boston Port closed, 141
Bouweries laid out, 21
Bouwerie Lane, 21
Bouwerie Village, 54, 76, 231
Bowery Road, 179
Bowery, the, 21, 35
Bowling Green, 12, 35, 93, 105,
131, 134, 152, 200
Bradford, William, 79, 108
Bridge, East River, 236
Bridge, High, 227
British occupy New York City, 163
Broad Street, 57, 148
Broadway, 12, 58, 93, 162, 198, 204
Bunker Hill, Battle of, 148
Burgomasters, 46
Burgoyne, General, 171, 172
Burnet, William, 101-103
Burns's Coffee-House, 129, 130
Burr, Aaron, 150, 201, 203-207
Burton, Mary, 112-114
Buttermilk Channel, 30
Cabot, John, 23, 50
Cabot, Sebastian, 23, 50
Canal, Erie, 220-222
Canal Street, 205
Cape of Good Hope, 3
Castle Garden, 215, 232
Cemetery, first Jewish, 104
Central Park, 233
Chambers, Captain, 139, 140
Charles I., 23
Charles II., 62
Church in the Fort, 36, 37
l>43]
Ind
EX
Church, St. Mark's, 54
Church, St. Paul's, 150, 167, 195,
198
Church, Trinity, 28, 79, 129, 198
City Hall (first), 36, 47, 75, 87, 122
City Hall (in Wall Street), 87-89,
94, 99, 128, 133, 152, 190
City Hall (present), 152, 205
City Hall Park, 50, 175, 176, 214
City Hospital, 184
City Plan, 212, 213
City Wall, 48, 87
Clarke, Ceorge, in, 115, 116
Clermont, the, 210, 211
Clinton, Admiral George, 116-118
Clinton, De Witt, 208, 220-222
Clinton, Governor George, 171
Clock, first public, 99
Colden, Cadwallader, 102, 131,
133
Collect Pond, 50, 114, 189, 198,
202, 204, 205, 209
College, Columbia, 184
College, King's, 121, 184
Colonial Congress, the, 129
Columbia College, 184
Columbia Heights, 164
Columbia University, 121, 164
Colve, Captain Anthony, 58, 59
Committee of Safety, 68
Common, the, 50, 137, 152, 184,
198, 205
Congress, Colonial, 129
Congress, First Continental, 141-
143
Congress, Second Continental,
144, 147
Constitution of the United States,
186-1S8
Continental Army, 148-149, 151,
179
Continental Congress, First, 141-
143
Continental Congress, Second, 144,
147
Cornbury, Lord, S9-94
Cornwallis, Lord, 178
Corporation Library, 87
Cosby, William, 105-110
Council of Twelve, 39
Croton Aqueduct, 223, 227-229
Crystal Palace, 233
Cunningham, Provost- Marshal,
176
Declaration of Independence,
152
De Lancey, James. 107-109, 117-
121, 123-125
De Lancey, Stephen, 99
De Lancey, Susannah, 116
Demont, William, 168
De Vries, Captain David Pieter-
sen, 28, 39, 40
District of Columbia, 199
Doctors' Mob, 185
Dongan Charter, 65
Dongan, Thomas, 64, 65
Draft Riot, 234
Duel between Alexander Hamilton
and Aaron Burr, 206, 207
Duke of York, 50-54, 55, 60, 61,
64, 65
Dutch Netherlands, 2
[244]
Index
East India Company, 2-5, 13
East Indies, 2-5, 13
East River Bridge, 236
Elevated railways, 234
English claim New Netherland,
23, 53
Erie Canal, 220-222
Exchange Place, 57
Fairs on Bowling Green, 35, 36
Federal Hall, 190-194
Federalists, 187, 188
" Federal Ship Hamilton," iSS
Ferry-boats, 211
Fire Department, first, 105
Fire of 1776, 167
Fire, " the Great," 224
First City Hall, 36, 47, 75, 87,
122
First Continental Congress, 141-
143
First Fire Department, 105
First houses of white men, 12
First Jewish cemetery, 104
First mail route, 57
First minister, 26, 36, 42, 43
First newspaper, 79
First night-watch, 87
First pavements, 93
First printing press, 79
First public clock, 99
First roads, 35
First schoolmaster, 26
First sidewalks, 198
First soldiers in New Netherland,
26
First steamboat, 208-211
First street lamps, 87
First street numbers, 198
First telegraph, 230, 231
First vessel built, 12
Fitch, John, 209
Fitzroy, Lord Augustus, 109, no
Fletcher, Benjamin, 77-81
Forrest, Edwin, 231
Fort Amsterdam, 19, 27, 53
Fort Clinton, 215, 232
Fort James, 54
Fort Manhattan, 13
Fort Washington, 168
"Fourteen Miles 'round," 195
Franklin House, 193
Franklin Square, 193
Franklin, Walter, 193
Fraunces's Tavern, 99, 100, 180
Frederick, Kryn, 19
Free School Society, 208
French Revolution, 199
" Fulton's Folly," 211
Fulton, Robert, 210, 211
Gage, General Thomas, 141
Gardiner's Island, 84
Gates, General, 172
Gazette, New York, 108
George II., 104, 116, 125
George III., 125, 134, 136, 142, 152
Golden Hill, Battle of, 136, 137, 138
Golden Hill Inn, 137
Government House, 196
Governor's Island, 30
Grant's Tomb 164
"Great Fire," the, 224
Greenwich Village, 216, 231
[245]
Index
Hale, Nathan, 157, 15S
Half Moon, 2, 3, 4
Hall of Records, 176
Hamilton, Alexander, 187, 18S,
201-203, 206, 207
Hamilton, Andrew, 109
Hardy, Sir Charles, 121
Harlem Heights, 161
Harlem Heights, Battle of, 164-
166
Harlem River, 229
Heights, Columbia, 164
Heights, Harlem, 161
Heights, Vandewater, 164
High Bridge, 227
Holland, 2
Holland, States-General *of, 15,
16
Houses, first, of white men, 12
Howe, Admiral, 153
Howe, General William, 153, 155,
158, 168, 171
Hudson's Bay, 7
Hudson, Henry, 3-8, 10
Hudson's River, 8
Hunter, Robert, 96, 97, 99, 100
Hyde, Edward (Lord Cornbury),
91.
India, 4
Indians, I, 4, 8, 9, 10, 16, 33, 34,
37-41
Indian War, 38-43, 49
Ingoldsby, Richard, 71
Island, Gardiner's, 84
Island, Governor's, 30
Island, Long, 30, 31, 84
Island of Manhattan bought from
Indians, 18
Island, Nut, 30
Island, Randall's, 31
Island, Staten, 10, 28, 39
Island, Ward's, 31
Jail, New, 175, 176
Jamaica, Long Island, 92
James, Duke of York, 50-54, 60,
61, 64, 65
James II., 64, 66, 67
Jans, Annetje, 28, 42
Jans's farm, 27, 28
Jersey, the, 176, 177
Jewish cemetery, the first, 104
John Street Theatre, 195
Journal, New York Weekly, 10S
Kidd, Captain William, 83-85
Kieft, William, 33-43
King's College, 121, 184
Kip's Bay, 158, 161, 162
Koopman, the, 19, 34
Lafayette, Marquis de, 171,
217-219
Leisler, Jacob, 67-76, 86, 89
Leislerian Party, 68, 89
Lexington massacre, 143
Liberty Pole, 134, 136
Lind, Jenny, 232
Lispenard's Meadow, 204
Livingston, Robert, 209, 210
Lockyer, Captain, 138, 139
Long Island, 30, 31, 84
Long Island, Battle of, 154-155
[246]
Index
Lords of the Manors, 21, 22
Loudoun, Lord, 123
Louisburg, 117
Lovelace, Francis, 55-58
Lovelace, Lord John, 95, 96
Macready, William Charles,
231, 232
Mail route, the first, 57
Manhattan Bank, 203
Manhattan Company, 203
Manhattan Island, 8, 10
Manhattans, 8
Manning, Captain John, 58, 59,
61, 62
Manors, 21, 22
May, Cornelius Jacobsen, 16
Milborne, Jacob, 68, 69, 72-74
Minister, first, 26, 36, 42, 43
Minuit, Peter, 17-24
Mohawks, 40
Monckton, Robert, 125, 126
Money used by Indians, 37
Montgomery, General Richard,
150
Montgomery, John, 103-105
Montreal, capture of, 123
Moore, Sir Henry, 133
Morris, Lewis, 96, 101, 107
Morris Mansion, 164
Morris, Richard, 96
Morris, Roger, 164
Morrisania, 96
Morse, Samuel F. B., 230, 231
Murray Family, 1 58-161
Murray Hill, 158
Mutiny Bill, 134, 135
Nanfan, John, 89
National Academy of Design, 230
Negro Plot, 111-115
Negro slaves, 27, 98, 99, 111-115
Netherlands, 2
Netherlands, Dutch, 2
New England, 48, 64-67
New Jail, 175, 176
New Jersey, 40
New Netherland, 12-14, 16-18, 24,
50, 60
New Orange, 59
Newspaper, first, 79
Newspapers, 223, 224
New York Gazette, 108
New York Weekly Journal, 108
Nicholson, Francis, 66, 68-70
Nicolls, Colonel Richard, 55
Night watch, first, 87
Non-Importation Agreement, 130,
136
Non-Importation Association, 130
North Pole, 7
Northwest Passage, 7
Nut Island, 30
Orange, Prince of, 60
Osborne, Sir Danvers, 1 16-120
Park, City Hall, 50, 175, 176,
214
Patriots, 143
Patroons, 21, 22, 34
Pavements, first, 93
Pearl Street, 16, 36, 193
Permanent revenue, the, 95, 97, 119
Pirates, 80-84
[247]
Index
Pitt, William, 134
Plot, Negro, 111-115
Prince of Orange, 60
Printing press, the first, 79
Prisons, 173-177
Prison ships, 176, 177
Prison, Tombs, 205
Privateers, 80, 83
Provisional Assembly, the,
147, 149
Provost, the, 176
Putnam, General, 157, 161
Quebec, 149, 150
Queen Street, 122
Railroad, elevated, 234
Randall's Island, 31
Rebels, 143
Restless, the, 12
Revolution, French, 199
Revolutionary War, 143, 144,
152, 177, 178
Riot, Astor Place, 231, 232
Riot, Doctors', 185
Riot, Draft, 234
River of the Mountains, 4, 8
Roads, the first, 35
Rolandsen, Adam, 26
Royalists, 143
St. Mark's Church, 54
St. Paul's Chapel, 150, 167,
198
Schepens, the, 46
Schoolmaster, the first, 26
Schools, 208
School Society, Free, 208
Schout, the, 46
Schout-fiscal, the, 19
Schuyler, General Philip, 172
Schuyler, Peter, 99
Seal of New York, 63
Second Continental Congress, 144,
147
Ship Adventure Galley, 82, S3
144, Ship Clermont, 210, 211
Ship, the first built, 12
Ship Half Moon, 2-4
Ship Restless, 12
Ship Tiger, 10, 12
Ships, prison, 176, 177
Ships, tea, 138, 139, 140
Sidewalks, the first, 198
Slave Market, 98
Slaves, 26, 27, 98, 99, 111-115
Sloughter, Henry, 70-73, 75, 76
Small-pox, 200
146. Smugglers, 34, 39
Soldiers, first, 25, 26
Sons of Liberty, 128, 136, 137,
I45-H7
Spain, 13
Stadt Huys, 36, 47, 75, 87, 122
Stamp Act, 127-136
Staten Island, 10, 28, 39
States-General of Holland, 15, 16
Steamboat, first, 208-211
Steam ferry-boats, 211
195, Street lamps, first, 87
Street numbers, first, 198
Street railways, elevated, 234
Streets, how laid out, 212
Stuyvesant, Peter, 44-49, 53, 54, 76
Sugar-house, 174, 175
[248]
Index
Tammany Hall, 197
Tammany Society, 197
Taxed tea, 135, 139-141
Tea ships, 138, 139, 140
Tea taxed, 135, I39-T4i
Telegraph, first, 230, 231
Theatre, John Street, 195
Third City Hall, 152, 205
Tiger, 10, 12
Tombs Prison, 152, 205
Tories, 143
Trading Stations, 103
Trinity Church, 28, 79, 129, 198
Trinity Churchyard, 207
Tryon's Gate, 198
Tryon's Row, 198
Tryon, William, 149, 158
Turtle Bay, 145, 146
" Tyrant of New England," 64
United New Netherland Com-
pany, 12
University of the City of New
York, 230
Valley Forge, 172
Van Arsdale, John, 180
Van Dam, Rip, 105-108, no, in
Vandewater Heights, 164
Van Dincklagen, the schout-nscal,
Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, 25
Van Twiller buys Governor's Is-
land, 30
Van Twiller's tobacco plantation,
27
Van Twiller, Walter, 25-32
Vauxhall^ 132
Verhulst, William, 17
Wall Street, 41, 87, 190
Wall Street, City Hall in, 87-89,
94, 99, 128, 133, 152, 19°
Wall, the city's, 48, 87
Walton House, 122
Walton, William, 122
Ward's Island, 31
War, Indian, 38-43, 49
War of the Revolution, 143, 144.
146, 152, 177, 178
War of 1812, 213-215
Warren, Admiral Peter, 116, 117
Washington, City of, 199
Washington, George, 123, 145.
14S, 149, 151-158, 162, 164, 168.
170, 172, 173. 178-183, 186, 189,
190, 193-195, J99- 200
Weehawken, 207
Westchester, 168
West India Company, 13-16, 18,
21-23, 25, 32, 42, 46, 53, 67
West Indies, 14
West Point, 177
Whigs, 143
Willett, Marinus, 147, 148
Willett, Thomas, 55
William III., 60, 67, 68, 70, 82
" William the Testy," 33
Windmills, 27, 34
World's Fair, 233
Yellow fever, 216
York, James, Duke of, 5°-54: 55.
60, 61, 64, 65
Zenger, Peter, 108-110
[249]
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